ibGAR  sydenstoickM  'm 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


CONDITIONS  OF    LABOR   IN 
AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


Conditions  of  Labor  in 
American  Industries 

A  SUMMARIZATION  OF  THE  RESULTS 
OF  RECENT  INVESTIGATIONS 

BY 

W.  JETT  LAUCK 

AND 

EDGAR  SYDENSTRICKER 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

1917 


GjPYRIGHT,   1917,   BY 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 
[Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America] 

Copyright  Under  the  Articles  of  the  Copyright  Convention  of  the 
Pan-American  Republics  and  the  United  States,  August  11,  1910 

Published,  April,  1917 


WD 


H 


;i  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I.— THE  LABOR  FORCE 

PAGE 

The  Racial  Composition  of  Industrial  Workers  ...  I 

The  Native  White  American i 

f*^                 The  Foreign-born  Wage-earners 2 

^                 The  Germans 3 

v\s»             Wage-earners  from  Austria-Hungary    ....  3 

The  Poles  and  the  Italians     .......  4 

The  "War  Order"  Industries 4 

Racial  Distribution  in  Industries 5 

Extent  of  Trade-Union  Membership 11 

Size  and  Variety  of  Trade-Union  Organization  .  11 

Growth  in  Union  Membership 18 

Proportion  of  Workers  Organized 19 

Women  in  Industry 20 

The  Employment  of  Children -25 

CHAPTER  II.— WAGES  AND  EARNINGS 

Weekly  Wages  of  Male  Workers 29 

Wages  of  Workers  of  Different  Races  ....  38 

Wages  in  Various  Industries 40 

Weekly  Wages  of  Female  Workers 43 

Differences  in  Women's  Wages  According  to  In- 
dustry      47 

The  Difference  in  Wages  of  Men  and  Women  Workers  57 

Annual  Earnings  of  Wage- workers 61 

Recent  Increases  in  Wage  Rates 69 

V 


20Slli- 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III.— LOSS  IN  WORKING  TIME 

PAGE 

The  Wage-earner's  Loss  in  Working  Time  ....  74 

General  Statistics  and  Statements 76 

Statistics  for  Specific  Industries 81 

Statistics  for  Specific  Trades  and  Occupations     .  93 

The  Extent  of  Unemployment 100 


CHAPTER  IV.— CONDITIONS  CAUSING 
IRREGULAR  EMPLOYMENT 

Analysis  of  the  Causes  of  Loss  in  Working  Time,  or 

Unemployment 117 

Evolutionary  Changes  Affecting  Employment    .      .      •    119 
Changes  in  Industrial  Structure  and  Methods  .      .120 
Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  According  to 

Industry 122 

Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  According  to 

Locality 123 

Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  Due  to  the  In- 
troduction of  Machinery  and  New  Pro- 
cesses   126 

Changes  in  Organization  of  Industry  .      .      .130 
Changes   in  the  Quantity   and   Character  of  the 

Labor  Supply 131 

Variations  in  the  Demand  for  Labor  Due  to  Fluctua- 
tions and  Irregularities  in  Industry     .      .      .    137 

Fluctuations,  Cyclical 139 

Fluctuations,  Seasonal 141 

Irregular  Employment 152 

Conditions  Determining  the  Worker's  Ability  to  Grasp 
or  Retain  the  Opportunity  to  be  Employed 

which  Industry  Offers 164 

Effects  of  Unemployment 169 


CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER  v.— WORKING  CONDITIONS 


PAGE 


Hours  of  Labor 176 

The  Trend  Toward  a  Shorter  Working  Day    .      .176 
The  Working  Day  in  the  Principal  Industries  .      .183 

Industrial  Accidents 192 

Occupational  Accident  Hazards 194 

Causes  of  Industrial  Accidents 197 

Nature  of  Injuries 203 

Economic  Significance  of  Industrial  Accidents  .     .   207 

Hazards  from  Harmful  Substances 212 

Insanitary  Conditions  in  Places  of  Work       .      .      .      .217 

Profit-sharing  and  Bonus  Plans 220 

Employers'  Welfare  Work 227 

Labor  and  Scientific  Management 232 

CHAPTER  VI.— THE  WAGE-EARNER'S 
FAMILY 

Annual  Incomes  of  Wage-working  Families     .      .      .   246 
Distribution  of   Wage-working  Families  Accord- 
ing to  Income 249 

Distribution  of  Wage-working  Families  of  DifiFer- 

ent  Races  According  to  Income      ....   249 
Differences  in  Family  Income  According  to  Geo- 
graphic Divisions 250 

Differences  in   Family  Income  According  to  In- 
dustry    251 

Sources  of  Family  Income 253 

Expenditures  of  Wage-working  Families    .      .      ,271 

CHAPTER  VII.— LIVING  CONDITIONS 

The  Diet  of  Wage-working  Families 283 

Housing  Conditions 291 

Living  Arrangements 295 

Ownership  of  Homes 302 

Community  Environment 305 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIIL— THE  WAGE-EARNER'S 
HEALTH 

PAGE 

The  Prevalence  of  Sickness  Among  Wage-earners.      .   315 
The  Greater  Prevalence  of  Disease  Among  Indus- 
trial Workers 317 

Occupational  Disease  Hazards 321 

Harmful  Substances ;  Metals,  Dusts,  Gases,  Vapors 

and  Fumes 323 

Harmful  Conditions  in  Places  of  Employment  .      .   323 
Working     Conditions     which     Cause     Excessive 

Fatigue 325 

Morbidity  According  to  Occupation       ....   328 

Mortality  According  to  Occupation 329 

Irregularity  of  Employment  and  Health 330 

Unhealthful  Living  Conditions 334 

Inadequate  Diet 334 

Bad  Housing  Conditions 335 

Effects  of  Unfavorable  Community  Environment 

upon  Health 338 

The  Employment  of  Women 342 

Poverty  and  Disease 344 

CHAPTER  IX.— THE  ADEQUACY  OF 
WAGES  AND  EARNINGS 

Adequacy  of  Earnings  of  Male  Workers  to  Support 

Families 357 

The  Adequacy  of  Women's  Wages 363 

The  Adequacy  of  Family  Income 366 

The  Point  of  Adequate  Subsistence 369 

Studies  of  Minimum  Standards  of  Family  Income  372 

The  Workingman's  Family  and  Higher  Living  Cost.      .  377 

Index 385 


PREFACE 

The  present  volume  is  designed  to  meet  a  practical 
need  for  a  compact  collection  of  the  results  of  the  large 
number  of  investigations  and  studies  of  conditions  under 
which  the  American  wage-earner  and  his  family  work 
and  live.  It  is  presented  merely  as  a  summarization  of 
the  principal  and  fundamental  facts  that  have  been  ascer- 
tained during  the  past  decade  and  a  half;  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  be  a  critical  discussion  of  these  facts,  or  to  be 
an  argument  in  favor  of  or  against  any  partizan  con- 
clusion, or  any  remedial  program.  Such  conclusions  as 
to  the  existence  of  a  condition,  or  set  of  conditions,  as 
appeared  to  be  clearly  warranted  by  the  facts  ascertained 
by  official  and  other  authoritative  data,  have  been  sug- 
gested, but  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  avoid  the  state- 
ment of  opinions  or  of  conclusions  which,  altho  the 
authors  may  feel  convinced  of  their  truth,  are  not  gen- 
erally agreed  upon  as  the  actual  results  of  the  various 
inquiries. 

The  presentation  of  the  data  has  been  confined  to  the 
conditions  of  wage-earners  in  manufacturing  and  mining 
industries  because  comparable  data  for  workers  in  trade 
(with  some  exceptions),  transportation,  and  agriculture, 
have  not  been  found  available.  The  summarization  of 
even  these  data  has  been  found  to  be  extremely  difficult 
because  methods  of  investigation  have  varied;  because 
there  has  been  a  wide  difference  in  the  scope  of  the  in- 


X  PREFACE 

quiries;  and  because  their  results  have  often  been  stated 
in  terms  and  in  forms  often  impossible  of  comparison. 
So  far  as  practicable  the  effort  has  been  made  to  state  the 
results  of  investigations  in  comparable  terms,  but  com- 
putations have  been  studiously  avoided  in  order  to  allow 
the  results  of  various  investigations  to  be  given  in  their 
original  form.  In  statements  of  earnings,  for  example, 
computations  and  estimates  based  upon  daily  and  hourly 
rates  have  not  been  employed;  only  statements  of  actual 
earnings  as  shown  in  the  reports  of  investigations  have 
been  used.  It  has  been  deemed  best,  in  presenting  a  col- 
lection of  data  from  many  different  sources,  to  shun  the 
introduction  of  the  element  of  statistical  speculation  as 
to  general  conclusions,  which  must  necessarily  be  founded 
frequently  upon  meager  or  slightly  related  facts. 

The  mass  of  detail  which  studentsi  of  labor  conditions 
have  accumulated  in  recent  years  is  so  great  as  to  render 
impossible  the  inclusion  in  a  single  volume  of  a  consider- 
able amount  of  descriptive  material.  The  authors  have 
therefore  been  compelled  to  sacrifice  much  interesting  and 
some  illuminating  data  in  order  to  keep  within  the  limits 
of  a  practical  handbook.  The  result  is  a  statement,  rather 
than  description,  of  some  of  the  fundamental  conditions 
of  labor  in  modern  industry  in  the  United  States,  which, 
it  is  hoped,  will  prove  useful  to  the  student,  be  he  in  the 
classroom  or  in  his  vocation,  employer  or  employee,  busi- 
ness man,  social  worker  or  legislator. 

It  is  thoroughly  realized  by  the  authors  that  since  the 
summer  of  191 5  there  have  been  marked  changes  in 
wages,  hours,  and  employment  due  to  unusual  industrial 


PREFACE  xi 

activity.  Attention  has  been  called  to  these  changes  at 
various  points  in  the  presentation  and,  wherever  there 
have  been  sufficient  data,  the  general  effects  of  these 
changes  have  been  suggested.  As  yet,  however,  the  re- 
sults of  investigations  of  the  changed  conditions  of  labor 
are  not  available.  Moreover,  the  permanency  of  the 
changed  conditions  during  the  past  two  years  is,  it  is  be- 
lieved, generally  regarded  as  problematical  in  considerable 
degree.  The  summary  presented  in  this  volume  is  thus 
a  summary  of  conditions  as  they  have  been  found  to 
exist  in  the  period  roughly  indicated  as  beginning  with 
1900  and  ending  with  1914  or  1915. 

Much  of  the  labor  and  facilities  necessary  for  such  a 
summarization  were  rendered  possible  by  the  fact  that 
the  authors  were  assigned  to  undertake  a  similar  task  for 
the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  the  re- 
sults of  which,  however,  were  not  published.  The  authors 
desire  to  express  acknowledgments  to  other  members  of 
the  Commission's  staff  for  such  data  as  they  collected  in 
unpublished  reports  made  for  the  Commission's  use,  and 
especially  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Bradford,  Miss  Frances  Valiant, 
Mr.  Leifur  Magnusson,  and  Dr.  Ralph  D.  Fleming,  who 
for  a  time  were  assigned  to  assist  the  authors.  The 
volume  contains  considerable  data  later  collected  and 
added,  however,  and  particular  acknowledgments  are  due 
to  Mr.  Leifur  Magnusson  for  the  preparation  of  some  of 
the  material  not  included  in  the  scope  of  the  Commission's 
assignment.  The  sections  on  Profit-Sharing,  Welfare 
Work,  and  Scientific  Management  were  also  prepared  by 
Mr.  Magnusson.  The  Index  was  prepared  by  Mr.  E. 
Kletsch  of  the  Catalog  Division,  Library  of  Congress. 


CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR    IN 
AMERICAN    INDUSTRIES 

I 

THE  LABOR  FORCE 

THE  RACIAL  COMPOSITION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS 

Several  years  ago  the  former  United  States  Immi- 
gration Commission  conducted  an  exhaustive  inquiry  as 
to  the  racial  composition  of  American  industry,  and  the 
situation  at  present  is  practically  the  same  as  it  was  when 
this  investigation  was  made.  The  extent  to  which  differ- 
ent alien  races  were  employed  in  American  industries,  as 
disclosed  by  the  Immigration  Commission,  summarily 
stated,  was  as  follows  : 

Native-born  Americans  of  native  father,  25  per  cent. 
Native-born  Americans  of  foreign  father,  17  per  cent. 
Foreign-born 58  per  cent. 

Fewer  than  one  out  of  every  four  workers  in  our  basic 
industries  are,  therefore,  native  Americans;  while  more 
than  three  out  of  every  five  industrial  workers  are  of  for- 
eign birth.  The  remainder,  constituting  about  17  per 
cent.,  are  immigrant  workmen  of  the  second  generation. 
Of  the  native  American  workers  in  mines,  mills,  etc.,  one- 
fifth  are  negroes,  and  four-fifths,  whites.  On  the  basis  of 
general  nativity,  42  per  cent,  of  the  industrial  forces  are 
of  native  birth  while  58  per  cent,  were  born  abroad. 

The  Native  White  American 
The  native-born  white  American,  or  native-born  whites 
of  native  fathers,  are  employed  most  extensively  in  the 

I 


2  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

manufacture  of  cigars  and  tobacco,  collars  and  cuffs, 
glass,  gloves  and  shoes.  Only  a  small  percentage,  ranging 
from  one-fifth  to  one-tenth  of  the  wage-earners  in  the 
leading  branches  of  American  industries,  are  native  white 
Americans.  The  native  negroes  have  their  largest  num- 
bers of  workers  in  cigar  and  tobacco  manufacturing, 
bituminous  coal  mining,  and  in  construction  work  in  the 
Southern  States;  considerable  proportions  are  also  em- 
ployed in  slaughtering  and  meat-packing  establishments. 

The  Foreign-horn  Wage-earners 
The  proportion  which  foreign-born  wage-earners  con- 
stitute of  the  total  operating  forces  of  some  of  our  lead- 
ing industries  may  be  briefly  stated,  as  follows : 

Per  cent,  of 
Industry  all  employees 

Agricultural  implements  and  vehicles       60 

Boots  and  shoes        27 

Cigars  and  tobacco    . .     . .    ' Zi 

Clothing        72 

Bituminous  coal  mining 62 

Copper  mining  and  smelting 65 

Cotton  goods  manufacturing 69 

Furniture  manufacturing        59 

Glass  manufacturing        39 

Iron  and  steel  manufacturing       58 

Iron  ore  mining 53 

Leather  manufacturing 67 

Oil  refining 67 

Silk  dyeing 75 

Silk  goods  manufacturing      34 

Slaughtering  and  meat  packing 61 

Sugar  refining 85 

Woolen  and  worsted  goods  manufacturing       62 

Electric  supplies  manufacturing 45 

Firearms  manufacturing         40 

Foundry  and  machine  shops 55 

Total  (all  leading  industries)       ..     .,     ,,      ,,     ,,     58 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  3 

The  Germans 
The  German  industrial  workers  of  the  second  genera- 
tion, as  well  as  those  of  recent  arrival  in  this  country,  are 
most  extensively  employed  in  agricultural  implement  and 
vehicle  manufacturing,  boot  and  shoe  factories,  clothing, 
glass,  gloves,  iron  and  steel,  leather,  oil  refining,  silk 
goods,  silk  dyeing,  slaughtering  and  meat  packing,  elec- 
tric supplies,  cutlery  and  tools,  car  building,  firearms, 
foundry  and  machine  shops,  locomotive  building,  hosiery 
and  knit  goods,  zinc  smelting  and  refining. 

Wage-earners  from  Austria-Hungary 
The  principal  wage-earners  from  Austria-Hungary  are 
Bohemians,  Croatians,  Magyars  and  Slovaks.  Most 
of  these  industrial  workers  are  of  recent  arrival,  and  com- 
paratively small  proportions  of  those  of  the  second  gen- 
eration, or  of  native  birth  but  of  foreign  father,  are 
employed.  Croatians  are  found  in  largest  numbers  in  rail- 
road and  other  construction  work,  copper  mining  and 
smelting,  iron  and  steel  manufacturing,  iron  ore  mining, 
slaughtering  and  meat  packing,  bituminous  coal  mining, 
leather  manufacturing,  and  oil  refining.  Magyars,  or 
Hungarians,  are  distributed  throughout  all  industries,  the 
greatest  numbers  being  found  in  iron  and  steel  manufac- 
turing, bituminous  coal  mining,  silk  dyeing,  and  sugar 
manufacturing.  The  Slovaks  are  most  largely  employed 
in  bituminous  coal  mining,  oil  refining,  and  iron  and  steel 
manufacturing.  The  Bohemians  have  their  largest  pro- 
portions engaged  in  manufacturing  clothing,  agricultural 
implements  and  vehicles,  in  slaughtering  and  meat  pack- 


4  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ing,  and  in  making  electric  supplies.  They  are  also  well 
represented  in  the  manufacture  of  glass,  gloves,  iron  and 
steel,  furniture  and  leather.  Altogether,  wage-earners 
from  Austria-Hungary  make  up,  at  least,  15  per  cent,  of 
the  operating  forces  of  our  leading  industries. 

The  Poles  and  the  Italians 
Italians,  both  from  the  north  and  south  of  Italy,  are 
extensively  employed  and  constitute  about  7  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  industrial  workers.  Their  largest 
numbers  are  engaged  in  railroad  and  other  construction 
work,  iron  ore  and  bituminous  coal  mining,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  clothing,  foundry  and  machine  shops, 
and  hosiery  and  knit  goods  mills.  The  Poles  are  at  work 
in  practically  all  branches  of  industry,  the  greater  propor- 
tion being  employed  in  sugar  refineries,  cotton  mills,  fur- 
niture factories,  bituminous  coal  mines,  slaughtering  and 
meat  packing,  leather  manufacturing,  car  and  locomotive 
building,  zinc  mining  and  smelting,  in  foundry  and 
machine  shops,  and  in  the  rope,  twine  and  hemp  industry. 

The  "War  Order"  Industries 
Probably  the  racial  make-up  of  the  operating  forces  of 
industries  which  have  received  European  war  orders  has 
changed  in  some  cases,  especially  in  the  manufacture  of 
explosives,  since  the  investigation  of  the  Immigration 
Commission.  So  far  as  information  is  available,  how- 
ever, it  will  be  of  value  to  note  the  conditions  in  those 
branches  of  industry  most  directly  related  to  war.  In 
the  manufacture  of  firearms,  the  Immigration  Commis- 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  5 

sion  found  that  two-fifths  of  the  employees  were  of  for- 
eign birth,  the  principal  races  represented  being  French- 
Canadians,  English,  Irish,  Germans,  Italians,  Poles, 
Scotch  and  Swedes.  In  foundries  and  machine  shops,  55 
per  cent,  of  the  workers  were  of  foreign  birth,  the  leading 
races  being  English,  German,  Irish,  Italians,  Swedes  and 
Poles.  In  cutlery  and  tool  establishments,  63  per  cent. 
of  the  wage-earners  were  foreign-born,  the  largest  pro- 
portions being  composed  of  Swedes,  Germans,  Irish, 
Poles  and  English.  In  the  coal  mines,  the  Slovaks,  Poles, 
and  Italians,  and  Croatians  predominate,  as  well  as  in- the 
labor  forces  of  iron  and  steel  plants  and  blast  furnaces. 

Racial  Distribution  in  Industries 
Altogether,  56  distinct  races  were  found  by  the  Immi- 
gration Commission  to  be  represented  at  work  in  the  lead- 
ing branches  of  American  industry.  Almost  one-half  of 
the  foreign-born  workers  were  from  Southern  and  East- 
ern Europe,  the  largest  numbers  of  those  of  foreign  birth 
being  from  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  Russia,  and  the  Bal- 
kans. The  distribution  of  employees  by  races  in  21  basic 
industries  of  the  country  is  shown  in  the  table  on  pp.  6 
and  7,  in  terms  of  percentages.  This  table  was  compiled 
by  the  former  United  States  Immigration  Commission 
and  is  based  on  data  secured  from  507,256  wage-earners.^ 
Similar  information  was  secured  for  16  minor  indus- 
tries including  112,339  employees.  This  is  set  forth  in 
the  table  on  p.  8,  in  terms  of  percentages  by  sex  and 
industry.^ 

*  Report  of  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission  Abstract  of  Reports  on  Immigrants 
in  Mining  and  Manufacturing,  Washington,   1911,  Vol.  I,  pp.  332-333. 
-  Idem,  pp.  343-345. 


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CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


RACE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  EMPLOYEES  IN  16  INDUSTRIES  FOR  WHOM 

CERTAIN    INFORMATION   WAS    SECURED,    BY    INDUSTRY; 

PERCENTAGES — Continued 

Female 


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Native-born,  of  native 
father: 

White 

22.2 
.0 

30.7 
.0 

20.6 
.0 

40.8 

(a) 

38.4 
.0 

39.6 
.0 

9.5 
.1 

32.2 
.0 

62.2 

Negro 

.0 

Native-born  of  foreign 

father,   by   country 

of  birth  of  father: 

Austria-Hungary 

1.1 

2.1 

1.4 

1.1 

.1 

.8 

.4 

1.2 

.5 

Canada 

7.0 

4.2 

1.2 

1.9 

9.4 

11.9 

4.8 

.6 

1.9 

England 

2.6 

4.8 

1.8 

3.6 

2.2 

3.1 

.6 

2.9 

4.4 

Germany 

3.6 

8.3 

12.6 

11.5 

3.5 

6.3 

.6 

18.4 

8.2 

Ireland 

7.0 

15.1 

10.8 

14.0 

17.7 

21.7 

3.1 

27.8 

9.9 

Russia 

1.6 
.3 

1.6 
2.7 

1.7 
1.1 

1.4 

.7 

.1 
1.8 

.8 
2.5 

.1 
.9 

1.0 
2.4 

.0 

Scotland 

.3 

Wales 

.0 
1.9 

.1 

2.8 

.1 

3.4 

1.6 
2.1 

.0 
.8 

.6 
1.0 

.0 
.2 

i.\ 

.8 

Other  countries. . 

4.1 

Foreign-born,  by  race: 

Bohemian  and 

Moravian 

.0 

.2 

.0 

.1 

.0 

.2 

.0 

.2 

.0 

Canadian,  French 

2.8 

2.1 

.4 

.8 

6.5 

3.8 

6.0 

.0 

.0 

Canadian,  Other. 

.7 

6.1 

.3 

.6 

.5 

1.9 

.2 

.0 

2.2 

Croatian 

.0 

.1 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.0 

EngUsh 

2.1 

4.0 

1.6 

1.6 

1.0 

1.2 

.5 

1.4 

1.1 

German 

1.6 

1.8 

4.4 

2.1 

.6 

.8 

.3 

3.1 

2.2 

Greek 

.0 
3.1 

.8 

.8 

3.5 

.3 

1.2 
1.0 
1.7 

.0 

2.3 

.6 

.0 

12.0 

.1 

.0 

2.1 

.0 

1.7 

2.5 
2.0 

.0 

2.0 

.0 

.0 

Irish 

1.1 

Italian,  North..  . 

.3 

Italian,  South.  .  . 

1.5 

.1 

1.8 

2.0 

.0 

.0 

.9 

.2 

.3 

Lithuanian 

.7 

.4 

2.9 

.8 

.8 

.0 

.1 

.4 

.0 

Magyar 

.0 

.5 

.2 

.3 

.1 

.0 

.0 

.4 

.0 

Polish 

36.5 
.8 

2.1 

.5 

22.4 
3.3 

4.5 
.6 

2.6 
.2 

.0 
.0 

48.9 
2.0 

.4 
1.0 

.0 

Russian 

.0 

Scotch 

1.0 
.0 
.0 

1.3 
.0 

.7 

.2 
.6 

.5 

.4 
2.3 

(a) 

1.3 
.0 
.1 

.2 
.0 
.0 

13.6 
.3 
.0 

1.2 
.0 
.0 

.0 

Slovak 

.0 

Swedish 

.0 

Other  races 

1.1 

3.1 

2.8 

2.3 

.2 

1.5 

.7 

.5 

.5 

Grand  total. 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Total   native-born  of 

foreign  father 

25.1 

41.7 

34.1 

37.9 

35.6 

48.7 

10.7 

56.9 

.30.1 

Total  native-born. .  .  . 

47.-3 

72.4 

54.7 

78.7 

74.0 

88.3 

20.3 

89.2 

92.3 

Total  foreign-born . .  . 

52.7 

27.6 

45.3 

21.3 

26.0 

11.7 

79.7 

10.8 

7.7 

a  Less  than  0.05  per  cent. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  ii 

EXTENT  OF  TRADE-UNION  MEMBERSHIP 

The  extent  of  trade-union  membership  in  the  United 
States  can  be  only  approximated  because  no  single  agency, 
either  private  or  official,  attempts  to  collect  statistics  of 
trade-union  membership  regularly.^  Recently,  however, 
studies  of  the  extent  and  the  growth  of  labor  organiza- 
tion in  the  United  States  by  Wolman  *  and  by  Barnett  ^ 
have  provided  bases  for  a  very  much  closer  estimate  of 
the  actual  number  of  organized  wage-workers,  and  of  the 
proportion  they  bear  to  the  total  number  of  wage-earners, 
than  has  been  possible  heretofore.  Professor  Barnett's 
study  includes  the  year  19 14  and  its  results  are  sum- 
marized briefly  below. 

Si::;e  and  Variety  of  Trade-Union  Organization 

A  grand  total  of  about  2,700,000  members  of  trade 
unions  in  the  United  States  in  191 3  and  19 14  is  indicated. 
This  was  the  highest  figure  attained  up  to  that  time.  In 
1897  it  was  444,500;  in  1905,  1,945,000,  and  in  1910, 
2,138,000.  The  following  table,  abridged  from  Professor 
Barnett's  detailed  statistics,^  shows  the  membership 
in  1914  of  each  union  and  group  of  unions,  the  classifica- 

'  The  statistics  published  annually  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  cover 
only  those  unions  which  are  affiliated  with  it,  and  the  unions  in  the  Federation 
are  not  the  same  over  any  given  series  of  years.  The  New  York  Department  of 
Labor  (now  under  the  New  York  Industrial  Commission)  has,  since  1906,  pub- 
lished annually  statistics  of  American  trade-union  membership  supplementary 
to  the  statistics  published  by  the  Federation  which,  since  1911,  are  probably 
fairly  close  approximations. 

*  Leo  Wolman:  The  Extent  of  Labor  Organization  in  the  United  States  in 
1910,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  May,  1916. 

"George  E.  Barnett:  Growth  of  Labor  Organization  in  the  United  States, 
1897-1914,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics.  August,  1916. 

*  Statistics  of  membership  were  obtained  by  Professor  Barnett  directly  from 


12  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

tion  of  unions  into  groups  being  very  similar  to  the  classi- 
fication used  by  the  British  Board  of  Trade.  The  large 
variety  of  labor  organizations,  as  well  as  their  distinctive- 
ness along  industrial  lines,  is  clearly  indicated : 


Membership  of  American  Trade  Unions,  19 14 

Building : 

Bricklayers  and  masons 82,500 

Bridge  and  iron  work 13,200 

Building  laborers      9,800 

Carpenters.  United 212,200 

Cement  work     7,300 

Ceramic  tile  layers 3,000 

Composition  roofers        1,600 

Compressed  air  work      1,000 

Electrical  work  (A.  R  of  L.)      30,800 

Elevator  constructors      2,700 

Heat  and  asbestos  work 1,000 

Hod  carriers      25,600 

Marble  work     4,100 

Painters       74,400 

Plasterers 18,000 

Plumbers     29,700 

Sheet  metal  work 17,800 

Slate  and  tile  roofers 600 

Wood  and  metal  lathers 6,700 

Total  in  group       542,000 


official  publications  of  the  unions  or  from  union  officials  wherever  possible. 
These  were  supplemented  by  statistics  of  affiliated  unions  taken  from  the  reports 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  by  statistics  of  unaffiliated  unions  from 
the  reports  of  the  New  York  Department  of  Labor. 

For  an  explanation   and  discussion   of  the  sources  of  the  data  and  of  the 
methods  employed  in  this  compilation,  see  liarnett,  loc.  cit.,  p.  785. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  13 

Metal,  machinery,  and  shipbuilding : 

Blacksmiths        9,600 

Boiler  makers 16,700 

Carriage  work ■^>^^^ 

Car  work H-OOO 

Chandelier  work       400 

Cutting  die  makers 300 

Diamond  work ^"0 

Engineers,  Amalgamated       2,700 

Foundry  employees 600 

Iron,  steel  and  tin  work 6,500 

Machinists 75,400 

Metal  polishers 10.000 

Metal  work.  Brotherhood      1.700 

Molders       50.000 

Pattern  makers 6,700 

Pocket  knife  grinders 300 

Railway  carmen 28,700 

Saw  smiths 100 

Stove  mounters         1>100 

Wire  weavers 300 

Total  in  group     225,900 

Textile : 

Cloth  weavers 5,000 

Elastic  goring  weavers 100 

Lace  operatives , 1,200 

Loomfixers         1»600 

Machine  textile  printers 400 


Print  cutters 


400 


Spinners       2,200 

Textile  work     18,000 

Wool  sorters  and  graders 1,400 

Total  in  group     30,300 


14  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Mining  and  quarrying : 

Miners,  Western  Federation        36,900 

Mine  workers.  United 339,000 

Quarry  work      4,000 

Slate  work 300 

Total  in  group      380,200 


Transportation : 

Commercial  telegraphers       1,000 

Locomotive  engineers 73,800 

Locomotive  firemen        86,800 

Longshoremen 25,000 

Maintenance  of  way  employees 6,500 

Marine  engineers      9,100 

Masters,  mates,  and  pilots 5,000 

Mechanical  trackmen  . .         300 

Pavers 1,600 

Paving  cutters 3,500 

Railroad  freight  handlers      2,900 

Railroad  signalmen 700 

Railroad  station  agents 1,100 

Railroad  station  employees 4,300 

Railroad  telegraphers      25,000 

Railroad  trainmen 126,100 

Railway  clerks 5,000 

Railway  conductors 49,100 

Seamen        16,000 

Steam  shovelmen      1,800 

Street  and  electric  railway  employees       54,500 

Switchmen 9,800 

Teamsters 51,100 

Tunnel  constructors 1,700 

Total  in  group      561,700 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  15 

Clothing : 

Cloth  hat  and  cap  makers     3,600 

Garment  work 60,700 

Glove  work 1,100 

Hatters        9,000 

Ladies'  garment  work      69,900 

Straw  and  ladies'  hatters      700 

Tailors        12,000 

Total  in  group      157,000 

Paper,  printing  and  bookbinding: 

Bookbinders       9,400 

Lithographers 2,800 

Lithographic  press  feeders 1,000 

Lithographic  workmen 500 

Machine  printers      500 

Paper  makers 4,400 

Photo-engravers        4,700 

Poster  artists 400 

Printing  pressmen 19,300 

Pulp  and  paper  mill  work 3,500 

Steel  plate  printers 1,300 

Steel  plate  transferrers 100 

Stereotypers  and  electrotypers 4,500 

Typographical 58,500 

Total  in  group      110,900 

Leather : 

Boot  and  shoe  work      38,100 

Boot  and  shoe  cutters 700 

Leather  work  on  horse  goods       1,800 

Shoe  work,  United 14,000 

Traveling  goods  and  leather  novelty  work      . .     . .  900 

Total  in  group       55,500 


i6  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Lumber  and  woodworking: 

Box  makers  and  sawyers       12,300 

Coopers       4,400 

Piano  and  organ  work 1,000 

Timber  work      2,500 

Upholsterers       3,500 

Wood-carvers 1,100 

Total  in  group      24,800 


Chemical,  clay,  glass  and  stone: 

Brick,  tile  work        3,200 

Flint  glass  work       9,900 

Glass  bottle  blowers 10,000 

Glass  work,  Amalgamated 1,200 

Granite  cutters 13,500 

Potters,  operative 7,700 

Powder  work 200 

Stone-cutters      6,000 

Window  glass  snappers 2,200 

Window  glass  work 3,900 

Total  in  group      57,800 


Public  service: 

Government  employees 4,000 

Letter  carriers 32,200 

Post  office  clerks,  Assoc 25,000 

Post  office  clerks.  Fed 2,800 

Railway  mail  association       12,900 

Railway  postal  clerks      1,500 

State,  city  employees       2,800 

Total  in  group       81,200 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  17 

Food,  liquor  and  tobacco : 

Bakery  work     15,700 

Brewery  work 67,600 

Cigarmakers       48,500 

Stogie  makers 1,400 

Tobacco  work 3,700 

Total  in  group      136,900 


Restaurant  and  trade : 

Butcher  work 2,000 

Hotel  employees       59,000 

Hotel  work 12,600 

Meat  cutters       6,200 

Retail  clerks      15,000 

Total  in  group      94,800 

Miscellaneous: 

Barbers        34,300 

Bill  posters 1,400 

Broom  makers 700 

Brush  makers 200 

Trade  and  Fed.  Unions  (A.  F.  of  L.)     27,200 

Fur  work 800 

Horseshoers       5,700 

I.  W.  W.  (Chicago)       12,000 

I.  W.  W.  (Detroit) 2,000 

Laundry  work 2,800 

Stationary  firemen 16,000 

Steam  engineers       20,300 

Total  in  group      123,400 


i8  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Theaters  and  music : 

Musical  and  theatrical  union       6,000 

Musicians 60,000 

Theatrical  stage  employees 15,000 

White  Rats  Actors'  Union 11,000 

Total  in  group       92,000 

Total  in  all  groups       2,674,400 

Grozvth  in  Union  Membership 

The  annual  statistics  from  1897  to  19 14  have  ex- 
hibited, in  the  main,  a  steady  growth.  There  were,  how- 
ever, several  marked  variations.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  these  variations  reflected  very  closely  the  changes  in 
business  conditions,  a  loss  of  membership  resulting  when- 
ever a  depression  occurred  and  an  increase  in  member- 
ship whenever  a  period  of  prosperity  took  place.  Thus 
from  1897  to  1904  there  was  a  period  of  uninterrupted 
increase  in  membership  from  444,500  to  2,072,600;  from 
1904  to  1909  the  membership  was  practically  stationary, 
concurrent  with  business  depressions  in  1904  and  1907; 
and  from  1909  to  1913  another  period  of  increase  in 
membership  and  of  absence  of  depressions.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  the  slight  decrease  in  1914  has  been  more 
than  offset  in  the  period  of  industrial  activity  which  be- 
gan in  the  summer  of  191 5,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
reports  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  from 
statements  of  a  number  of  trade-union  officials. 

The  following  table  shows  for  each  group  the  per  cent, 
of  the  total  trade-union  membership  contained  in  each 
group  for  each  of  the  years  1897,  1900,  1910,  and  1914, 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  19 

the  groups  being  arranged    in    the    order  of  their  im- 
portance in  1897:^ 

PER  CENT.  OF  TOTAL  MEMBERSHIP  IN  EACH  GROUP  OF  UNIONS 
IN  THE  YEARS  1897.  1900.  1910  AND  1914 

1897  1900  1910  1914 

Transportation 26.2  21.9  22.5  21.0 

Building       15.2  17.7  21.5  20.3 

Metal,  machinery  and  shipbuilding      ..  11.3  9.3  9.2  8.4 

Food,  liquor  and  tobacco       9.9  7.6  5.4  5.1 

Paper,  printing  and  bookbinding  . .      . .  8.5  5.5  4.2  4.1 

Chemical,  clay,  glass  and  stone     . .      . .  5.2  3.4  2.8  2.2 

Mining  and  quarrying      4.7  15.1  12.9  14.2 

Clothing       5.2,  2.9  4.6  5.9 

Leather         2.9  0.8  2.1  2.1 

Public  service 2.5  1.8  2.7  3.0 

Textile 1.8  0.9  1.0  1.1 

Theaters  and  music 1.5  1.1  2.8  3.4 

Restaurants  and  trade 1.4  3.2  2.8  3.5 

Lumber  and  woodworking 1.2  3.0  1.3  0.9 

Miscellaneous      4.3  5.8  4.4  4.6 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  transportation,  building  and 
mining  groups  have  contained  about  half  of  the  total 
trade-union  membership,  and  over  half  of  the  total  in- 
crease in  membership  has  been  in  these  unions.  The 
groups  showing  an  actual  decrease  in  their  relative  im- 
portance are  paper,  printing  and  bookbinding  and  the 
chemical,  clay,  glass,  and  stone  groups;  these,  however, 
were  already  fairly  well  organized  in  1897.  The  total 
increase  in  trade-union  membership  appeared  to  be  at  a 
much  more  rapid  rate  than  the  increase  in  population,  or 
in  the  number  of  gainfully  occupied  persons. 

Proportion  of  Workers  Organized 
The  census  statistics  of  occupations  do  not  permit  of 
an  accurate  separation  of  "wage-earners"  from  the  total 

'  Barnett,  loc.  cit.,  p.  793. 


20  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  those  who  are  enumerated  as  ''gainfully  employed," 
but  by  deducting  employers  or  self-employed  and  fee- 
receiving  workers  (professional),  an  approximation  of 
the  total  number  of  wage-earners  is  possible.  In  1900 
there  were  21,837,050  such  wage-earners  and  in  19 10, 
30,267,000.  Using  these  figures  and  the  statistics  of 
trade-union  membership  for  the  same  years  as  bases  for 
computation,  Professor  Barnett  has  estimated  that  the 
trade-union  membership  was  4  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number  of  wage-earners  in  1900  and  7  per  cent,  in 
1910.  In  view  of  the  lessened  rate  of  immigration  and 
the  increase  in  union  membership  in  1915  and  1916,  it  is 
very  probable  that  the  ratio  was  considerably  higher  at 
the  end  of  1916  than  in  1910. 

WOMEN    IN    INDUSTRY 

The  proportion  of  women  10  years  of  age  and  over  in 
gainful  occupations  in  the  United  States  increased  from 
18.3  per  cent,  in  1900  to  21.2  per  cent,  in  1910.  The 
largest  proportionate  increase  was  in  the  number  engaged 
in  personal  and  domestic  service  (explained  as  due  to  a 
change  in  classification  as  between  the  different  cen- 
suses), followed  by  an  increase  of  from  10.6  per  cent,  in 
trade  and  transportation  to  15.8  between  1900  and  1910. 
Here  opportunities  for  women  have  probably  increased. 
In  agriculture  a  substantial  increase  has  occurred — 9.4 
per  cent,  to  14.4  per  cent.  In  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  pursuits  only  has  a  decrease  occurred — from 
18.5  per  cent,  to  16.4  per  cent.  There  is  not  an  industry 
group  embraced  in  the  Federal  Census  report  in  which 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  21 

women  are  not  employed.  The  different  branches  of  in- 
dustry in  which  the  largest  proportion  of  women  were 
reported  in  19 10  were  as  follows: 

Paint  factories. 

Munition  and  fireworks  establishments. 

Chemical  works. 

Soap  factories. 

Clothing  manufacturing. 

Corset,  glove  and  hat  factories. 

Candy  factories. 

Manufacture  of  food  products. 

Wagon  and  carriage  manufacturing. 

Leather  and  leather  products  manufacturing. 

Shoe  factories. 

Clock  and  watch  and  jewelry  factories. 

Box  factories. 

Paper  products  manufacturing. 

Printing  and  publishing. 

Cotton,  knitting,   woolen,  lace  and  embroidery,  linen,  silk, 

and  carpet  mills. 
Button  factories. 
Rubber  factories. 
Straw  factories. 
Laundries. 

A  large  part  of  the  office  staffs  of  banks,  insurance 
companies,  brokerage  offices  and  real  estate  firms  were 
composed  of  girls  and  women.  Slightly  more  than  one- 
sixth  of  the  total  number  of  persons  employed  in  whole- 
sale and  retail  trade  were  female  persons.  Almost  one- 
half  of  the  workers  in  professional  service,  and  two- 
thirds  of  those  in  domestic  service,  were  also  women  and 
girls.  The  following  table  shows  the  employment  of 
such  persons  in  the  United  States  in  1910,  by  age  groups, 
and  by  principal  industries : 


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IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  25 

THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF    CHILDREN 

The  latest  available  statistics  as  to  the  extent  to  which 
children  under  16  years  of  age  were  gainfully  employed 
are  contained  in  the  Federal  Census  of  19 10.  According 
to  these  reports  there  were  1,990,225  children  of  both 
sexes  between  the  ages  of  10  and  15  years  who  were  gain- 
fully employed  at  the  time  the  information  was  gathered. 
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fully employed  in  agricultural  pursuits  and  slightly  more 
than  2  per  cent,  of  those  in  other  gainful  pursuits  than 
agricultural. 

Of  all  the  children  gainfully  employed,  895,946  were 
less  than  14  years  of  age.  Of  those  between  the  ages 
of  10  and  13  years,  609,030  were  boys  and  286,946  girls. 

Almost  17,000  boys  under  16  were  working  in  coal 
and  iron  ore  mines  and  quarries,  of  which  number  about 
2,200  were  between  the  ages  of  10  and  13  years.  The 
industries  in  which  children  under  16  were  employed  in 
the  greatest  numbers  were  clothing,  shoe  factories, 
bakeries,  candy,  hat,  collar,  shirt  and  cuff  factories, 
slaughtering  and  meat-packing  houses,  blast  furnaces  and 
steel  mills,  saw  and  planing  mills,  printing  and  publishing 
establishments,  cotton  mills,  telegraph  and  telephones, 
banking  and  brokerage  offices,  cigar  and  tobacco  factories, 
silk,  knitting,  and  woolen  mills.  By  far  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  children  were  at  work  in  mercantile  establishments 
and  textile  mills.  The  following  table  shows  in  a  sum- 
mary way  the  extent  to  which  children  were  employed  in 
1910  by  age,  sex,  and  industry: 


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28  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 


II 

WAGES  AND   EARNINGS 

For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  economic  status 
of  wage-earners,  statistics  of  wage  rates  are  useful  only 
in  the  sense  that  they  afford  data  as  to  the  maximum 
possible  earnings  of  workers  in  various  occupations, 
industries  and  localities.  The  loss  of  working  time  is  so 
considerable  and  so  variable  a  factor  in  different  occu- 
pations and  industries,  as  will  be  pointed  out  in  a  later 
chapter,  that  statistics  of  weekly  full-time  earnings, 
or  weekly  wage  rates,  or  even  of  actual  weekly  earn- 
ings, can  not  be  employed  to  indicate  the  condition  of 
labor  from  the  standpoint  of  its  economic  advantages  or 
disadvantages,  unless  the  extent  of  the  actual  oppor- 
tunity to  receive  wages  regularly  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Statistics  of  annual  earnings,  therefore, 
are  a  far  more  accurate  method  of  measuring  the  real 
advantages  which  individual  wage-earners  obtain  from 
their  wages.  Since  the  family  is  the  natural  economic 
unit,  however,  the  adequacy  of  the  individual  wage- 
earner's  earnings  must  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  the 
amount  necessary  to  support  a  family  under  varying 
conditions  of  community  environment.  Statistics  of 
family  income  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  accurate 
and  complete  index  of  the  economic  status  of  the  wage- 
working  population  of  any  locality  or  in  any  industry. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  29 

With  this  very  general  statement  concerning  the 
value  of  the  different  forms  of  wage  statistics,  it 
is  purposed  in  the  following  pages  to  present  a  brief 
summary  of  the  recent  statistics  of  weekly  wage  rates 
and  weekly  earnings  of  adult  wage- workers,  and  such 
statistics  of  actual  annual  earnings  as  are  available. 
No  attempt  is  made  to  include  statistics  of  hourly  or 
daily  wage  rates,  or  computations  made  from  them; 
nor  has  it  been  deemed  advisable  to  include  the  results 
of  various  general  computations  of  annual  earnings 
from  hourly,  daily,  or  weekly  wage  rates  or  earnings, 
since  the  factor  of  loss  of  time  is  not  an  accurately 
determinable  one.  The  following  summary  is  thus  con- 
fined to  the  published  statistics  of  weekly  wage  rates 
and  to  the  results  of  investigations  which  have  afforded 
data  relating  to  weekly  and  annual  earnings.  In  a 
later  chapter  similar  data  regarding  family  income  are 
presented. 

Weekly  Wages  of  Male  Workers 

Taking  all  the  principal  industries,  for  which  data 
are  available,  into  consideration,  the  conclusion  appears 
to  be  warranted  that  during  the  past  few  years  between 
one-fifth  and  one-third  of  the  male  workers  18  years 
of  age  and  over  earned  at  rates  of  less  than  $10  a  week, 
between  two-thirds  and  three-fourths  earned  less  than 
$15,  and  only  about  10  per  cent,  earned  more  than 
$20  a  week. 

This  does  not  take  into  consideration  time  lost  from 
any  cause,  altho  some  of  the  statistics  upon  which  this 


30  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

conclusion  is  based  specify  actual  weekly  earnings, 
while  other  statistics  afford  data  as  to  weekly  full 
time  earnings,  or  weekly  rates  of  pay.  The  conclusion 
has  been  stated  in  terms  of  sufficient  latitude  to  allow 
for  these  considerations. 

The  Federal  Immigration  Commission's  data  for 
220,390  male  employees  in  representative  establishments 
in  industrial  localities  showed  that  32  per  cent,  earned 
less  than  $10;  75  per  cent,  less  than  $15,  and  93  per 
cent,  less  than  $20  a  week,  the  average  being  $12.64. 
These  percentages  are  for  both  foreign  and  native-born 
workers,  the  latter  constituting  about  60  per  cent,  of 
the  total  220,390  individuals,  but  they  are  not  greatly 
affected  by  the  slight  predominance  of  foreign-born 
employees.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  average  percentage 
of  all  employees  earning  less  than  the  specified  amounts 
is  very  nearly  the  average  of  the  percentage  for  both 
nativity  groups  in  every  instance.  Foreign-born  workers, 
however,  appeared  to  be  lower  in  the  industrial  scale 
than  native-born,  as  shown  in  the  following  summary 
of  the  Immigration  Commission's  figures: 

WEEKLY  EARNINGS  OF  MALE  WORKERS  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND 
OVER,  BY  NATIVITY  GROUPS.     (Per  Cent.) 

Foreign  Native 

born  born  Total 

Under  $10 36  25  32 

Under  $15 80  65  75 

Under  $20 95  88  93 

Number  139,610  80,780  220,390 

The  percentage  for  total  employees  shown  by  the 
regular    State    reports    of    New   Jersey,    Massachusetts, 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  31 

Kansas  and  Ohio,  while  depicting  rates  of  wages  rather 
than  actual  weekly  earnings  in  specific  sections  of  the 
country,  tend  to  corroborate  the  earlier  data  from  the 
Immigration  Commission's  reports  for  all  the  principal 
industrial  sections  in  the  United  States.  The  state 
figures  are  given  in  the  following  tabulation  along  with 
the  totals  from  the  Immigration  Commission's  report: 

WEEKLY  EARNINGS  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES  IN  ALL  INDUSTRIES  > 

Per  cent,  earning  specified  amounts  or  rates 
r ' » 

to 
^  a  ^  ^ 

Weekly  m'S^"!"-  ^      u  t.  r. 

Earnings  ^.^  ^^  ^„^  |  ^  R^  i  ^  ^2  ^  R^ 

E  E  RS  &2ii-         St^«2  gc^aS  :5w«2 


ijCCg  ?i^;5_  rauJMHM  a  I 


o 


Under  $10  . .      32  30  25  17  12 

Under  $15  ..      75  68  65  63  57 

Under  $20  ..93  89  88  86  a 

Total  number  220,390  259,341  446,530  54,178  573,2456 

a  Seventy-six  per  cent,  under  $18  per  week  and  94  per  cent,  under  $25  per 
week. 

b  Exclusive  of  bookkeepers,  stenographers,  office  help,  and  salesmen. 

The  Ohio  report,  which  is  one  of  the  most  compre- 
hensive statistical  presentations  of  wage  statistics  of  its 
kind,  included  data  for  employees  in  every  industry 
within  that  state  in  which  three  or  more  establishments 
reported  and  200  or  more  wage-earners  were  repre- 
sented. It  showed  that  11. 7  per  cent,  of  male  w^age- 
earners  18  years  of  age  or  over  worked  for  less  than 
$10  a  week,  29.6  per  cent,  for  less  than  $12,  56.9  per 

'  The  age  limits  in  the  various  reports  differ  slightly.  The  Immigration 
Commission  and  the  Massachusetts  and  Ohio  reports  are  for  males  18  years 
of  age  and  over,  and  the  New  Jersey  and  Kansas  reports  are  for  male  em- 
ployees  16  years  of  age  and   over. 


32  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

cent,  for  less  than  $15,  76.0  per  cent,  for  less  than  $18, 
and  94.1  per  cent,   for  less  than  $25  a  week. 

The  wage  data  for  the  573,245  male  wage-earners  18 
years  of  age  or  over  are  briefly  summarized  below : 

CLASSIFIED   RATES  OF  WAGES  OF  MALE  WAGE-EARNERS   18 
YEARS  OF  AGE  OR  OVER  IN  OHIO,  1914 

Number  of  adult  male        p^^.  ^^^^ 
Rate  of  Wages  per  Week  wage-earners    at  each       ,.  ._:ij„t:on 

classified  rate 

Less  than  $6 5.904  1.1 

$6  but  under  $7      5,696  1.0 

7  but  under    8      8,588  1.5 

8  but  under    9      13,571  2.4 

9  but  under  10      32,794  5.7 

10  but  under  12      102,460  17.9 

12  but  under  15       156.260  27.3 

15  but  under  18      109,225  19.1 

18  but  under  25      103,545  18.1 

25  but  under  35      28,814  5.0 

35  or  over       6,388  1.1 

Total 573,245  100.0 

The  classified  rate  of  wages  occurring  more  fre- 
quently than  any  other  is  $12  but  under  $15  per  week, 
at  which  rate  156,260,  or  27.3  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number,  work.  The  rate  second  in  importance  is  $15 
but  under  $18  per  week,  at  which  rate  109,225,  or 
19. 1  per  cent,  of  the  total  number,  are  employed.  Com- 
bining the  groups  it  will  be  seen  that  258,720,  or  45.2 
per  cent,  of  the  total  number,  work  for  $10  but  under 
$15  per  week,  and  that  212,770,  or  37.2  per  cent,  of  the 
total  number,  work  for  $15  but  under  $25  per  week.^ 

The  recent  investigations  of  the  New  York  Factory 
Investigating  Commission  found  that  in  four  industries 

»  lUillctin  of  the  Industrial  Commission  of  Ohio:  Rates  of  Wages.  Hours 
of  Labor,  and  Fluctuation  of  Employment  in  Ohio  in  1914,  p.  8. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  33 

— confectionery,  paper  box  and  shirt  factories  and  retail 
stores — more  than  three-fifths  of  the  male  workers 
received  less  than  $15  per  week  when  working  full  time.^ 
In  the  following  table  is  presented  a  compilation  of 
statistics  from  recent  official  sources  showing  the  pro- 
portion of  male  workers  earning  under  specified  amounts 
weekly.  Some  of  these  data  represent  actual  earnings; 
others,  full  time  weekly  rates  of  pay:* 

8H.  B.  Woolston:  Wages  in  New  York;  Surz'ey,  Feb.  6,  1915,  p.  505. 

*  The  foregoing  statistics  were  compiled  from  the  following  reports  and 
publications.  The  age  limits  used  in  the  various  sources  are  also  indicated 
below: 

Census — Report  on  manufactures,  1905   (16  years  and  over). 

Conditions  of  employment  in  the  iron  and  steel  industry  in  the  United 
States.     62d  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  Senate  Doc.  No.  110.     1913.     Vol.  III. 

Fitch,  John.     The  steel  workers,  1910. 

Kansas — Department  of  labor  and  industry:  Annual  report  for  1913  (16 
years  and  over). 

Kennedy,  J.  C.  Wages  and  family  budgets  in  the  Chicago  stock  yards 
district,   1914.     (Men.) 

Massachusetts  Bureau  of  statistics:  Annual  report  on  the  statistics  of  manu- 
factures for  the  year   1913.      (18  years  and  over.) 

Massachusetts — Bureau  of  statistics:  Wages  and  hours  in  the  paper  and 
wood  pulp  industry,   1914.      (16  years  and  over.) 

New  Jersey — Bureau  of  statistics:  Annual  report  of  labor  and  industries  of 
New  Jersey  for  the  year  ending  October  31,  1913.     (16  years  and  over.) 

Report  on  strike  at  Bethlehem  steel  works,  1910.  61st  Cong.,  3d  Sess., 
Senate  Doc.  No.  521. 

Strike  investigation  committee  of  the  Copper  County  Commercial  Club,  1913. 

Strike  of  textile  workers  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  in  1912.  62d  Cong.,  2d  Sess., 
Senate  Doc.  No.  870.     (18  years  and  over.) 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  labor:  Bulletin  No.  139.  Michigan  copper  district  strike, 
1914. 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  labor  statistics:  Wages,  etc.,  in  the  dress  and  waist  in- 
dustry in  New  York  City,   1913.      (Men.) 

U.   S.  Immigration  Commission:  Reports.      (18  years  and  over.) 

Woman  and  Child  wage-earners  in  the  United  States,  1910.  61st  Cong., 
2d  Sess.,   Senate  Doc.  No.  645.      (18  years  and  over.) 

Woolston,  H.  B.  Wages  in  New  York.  (Results  of  New  York  factory 
investigating  commission.)     Survey,  February  6,  1915. 


f 

> 

$6 

$10 

$15 

$20 

3.9 

34.3 

78.7 

94.2 

1.5 

23.6 

76.9 

94.5 

1.3 

6.3 

69.6 

88.6 

8.3 

48.0 

82.6 

96.3 

20.7 

66.0 

96.4 

9.5 

34.5 

67.4 

88.6 

1.2 

13.5 

44.8 

76.4 

12.0 

40.5 

74.7 

93.0 

30.7 

70.5 

96.1 

1.1 

15.9 

68.5 

91.9 

1.4 

25.7 

86.1 

97.2 

1.2 

28.6 

76.8 

89.8 

34  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  ]\IALE  EMPLOYEES 

Per  cent,  earning  under 
Industry  Number  specified  amounts 


Agricultural  implements: 

New  Jersey   report      621 

Massachusetts   report 585 

Kansas  report        79 

Census   report,    1905 30,679 

Immigration    Commission 21,104 

Boots  and  shoes: 

New  Jersey  report      2,536 

Massachusetts    report 56,520 

Census  report,   1905 59,142 

Immigration  Commission 9,906 

Boxes: 

New  Jersey  Report 1,289          11.3         41.7         76.6         94.9 

Massachusetts  report: 

Fancy  and  paper 1,518 

Wooden    packing      3,628 

Kansas    report      413 

New     York     Factory     Investigating 

Commission        2,194          10.0          40.0          71.1          91.4 

Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners: 

Cigar  boxes       292 

Paper   boxes      809 

Census  report,  1905: 

Cigar  boxes       1,361 

Fancy  and  paper 5,484 

Canneries: 

Massachusetts  report 1,353 

Kansas    report       47 

Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners: 

Fruits  and  vegetables 355 

Oysters       152 

Census  report,  1905: 

Fish 5.557 

Fruits  and  vegetables 16,717 

Oysters      213 

Cigars  and  tobacco: 

New  Jersey   report      2,283 

Massachusetts   report 3,235 

Kansas    report      123 

Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners: 

Cigars 4,465 

Cigarettes 460 

Tobacco    and    snuff 2,597 

Census  report,  1905: 

Cigars   and   cigarettes      46,680 

Tobacco,     chewing    and     smoking, 

and  snuflE 8,703 


10.3 

38.2 

.... 

6.1 

37.0 

.... 

21.1 

61.0 

92.4 

98.8 

19.6 

53.5 

85.2 

96.4 

4.1 

22.7 

75.8 

95.8 

76.6 

91.5 

95.7 

2.0 

44.8 

.... 

51.3 

83.6 

5.3 

31.8 

70.5 

89.5 

18.9 

63.9 

91.7 

98.4 

61.0 

82.7 

96.7 

100.0 

7.8 

41.6 

76.6 

91.4 

2.3 

6.9 

24.5 

54.6 

17.1 

29.3 

70.7 

99.2 

5.4 

21.4 

8.7 

45.0 

29.3 

80.2 

15.5 

40.2 

78.3 

95.0 

45.5 

83.2 

96.0 

99.1 

IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  35 

WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES— Continued 

Per  cent,  earning  under 
Industry  Number  specified  amounts 


Clothing: 

New  Jersey  report 632 

Massachusetts    report — Men's. .      . .  3,338 

Massachusetts     report — Women's    ..  1,641 

Kansas    report       45 

Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners: 
Shirts,     overalls    and     underwear, 

1910 502 

1911   report 5,503 

Wages,  etc.,  in  dress  and  waist  indus- 
try in  New  York  City,  1913: 

Week   workers 914 

Piece-workers 1,511 

Census  report,  1905: 

Men's 19,095 

Women's 13,205 

Confectionery: 

New  J ersey  report      307 

Massachusetts   report 2,070 

Kansas    report      449 

New     York     Factory     Investigating 

Commission,    1914 2,465 

Woman   and   child   wage-earners      . .  1,460 

Census  report,   1905 7,595 

Copper  mining  and  smelting: 

Immigration    Commission 6,79^         ....           8.3         67.1         97.0 

Corsets: 

New  Jersey  report       232 

Massachusetts    report 307 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners       .  .  451 

Census  report,   1905 523 

Cotton  goods: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Cotton    goods 2,210 

Finishing  and  dyeing 3,580 

Massachusetts  report: 

Cotton  goods 59,181 

Cotton  small  wares 369 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners: 

New  England  group        6,492 

Southern    group        9,439 

Report  on  Lawrence  strike,  1912   ..  2,568 

Census  report,  1905 95,025 

Furniture: 

Massachusetts    report 7,841 

Kansas    report       386 

Census  report,    1905 53,715 

Immigration  Commission 3,157 


$6 

$10 

$13 

$20 

6.2 
0.6 
0.9 
4.4 

33.9 
8.9 
9.9 

33.3 

68.5 
44.7 
29.0 
68.9 

88.4 
75.8 
60.7 
86.7 

17.1 
19.6 

59.8 
52.1 

.... 

.... 

2.2 
2.7 

16.6 
9.1 

a  61.7 
o33.3 

89.4 
55.7 

10.2 
6.3 

35.8 
31.6 

68.9 
66.0 

88.1 
84.3 

12.7 

1.8 

13.1 

59.9 
44.1 
35.9 

82.7 
77.0 
69.3 

94.5 
92.6 
91.1 

10.9 
15.7 
16.4 

51.9 
50.4 
54.6 

84.1 
82.6 

95.1 
94.8 

9.9 

33.2 

59.5 

86.6 

2.6 

21.8 

48.5 

80.5 

1.3 

18.6 

8.2 

26.4 

65.9 

83.9 

3.2 

50.3 

86.7 

94.6 

6.5 

71.4 

89.0 

95.4 

3.5 

51.2 

88.8 

95.4 

2.4 

36.0 

76.4 

93.0 

32.0 

71.8 

48.4 

90.1 

.... 

6.2 

59.3 

93.8 

95.8 

31.2 

76.2 

95.7 

98.7 

3.0 

24.8 

72.5 

91.9 

14.0 

47.7 

83.4 

97.9 

12.4 

53.8 

86.4 

97.5 

30.1 

83.9 

98.0 

36 


CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES— Co»«w«fd 


Industry 


Number 


Per  cent,  earning  under 
specified  amounts 


Glass: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Cut  tableware        450 

Mirrors       135 

Window  glass  and  bottles     . .      . .        6,998 

Massachusetts  report: 

Glass    cutting,   staining   and    orna- 
menting         243 

Kansas  report: 

Glass    factories 624 

Woman    and    child    wage-earners      .  .        1,840 

Census   report,   1905 31,510 

Immigration  Commission: 

Bottles        3,038 

Plate  glass 3,261 

Tableware 1,858 

Window  glass 1,432 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods: 

New  Jersey  report      1,478 

Massachusetts  report 2,950 

Woman   and  child  wage-earners      . .  2,218 

Census  report,   1905 11,558 

Iron  and  steel: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Bar       1,534 

Forging       2,834 

Structural 4,714 

Massachusetts  report: 

Steel    works   and   rolling   mills      .  .        3,549 

Census  report,  1905: 

Blast  furnaces 23,796 

Rolling  mills 117,374 

Immigration    Commission 77,280 

Leather: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Leather 6,817 

Leather    goods 592 

Massachusetts  report: 

Tan,  curried  and  finished      ..      ..      11,618 
Leather  goods 311 

Census  report,  1905: 

Tan,  curried  and  finished      .  .      .  .     38,293 
Leather    goods 1,752 

Immigration  Commission 10,912 

Mining — Iron  ore: 

New  Jersey   report      1,219 

Immigration  Commission 7,748 


$6  $10 


$15 


$20 


18.2 

46.0 

75.0 

94.0 

4.4 

34.1 

65.9 

92.6 

S.O 

49.2 

52.3 

75.5 

3.3 

19.8 

52.2 

88.5 

2.7 

17.1 

52.9 

61.1 

32.5 

95.0 

14.3 

42.3 

66.6 

77.S 

37.6 

63.1 

74.9 

41.0 

78.9 

96.7 

.... 

30.7 

58.7 

78.9 

17.9 

55.5 

78.8 

5.8 

28.0 

64.1 

77.0 

3.4 

40.4 

79.8 

91.9 

7.1 

46.8 

19.1 

68.9 

91.5 

97.3 

2.0 

44.5 

80.4 

92.3 

0.6 

31.0 

65.2 

89.9 

1.0 

26.7 

67.5 

82.1 

0.2 

8.0 

55.9 

89.3 

4.4 

27.3 

85.2 

96.8 

5.9 

43.3 

77.1 

89.8 

23.6 

66.3 

87.3 

2.5 

25.8 

69.5 

88.3 

21.3 

44.6 

81.1 

94.4 

0.5 

27.0 

76.0 

93.S 

3.5 

29.6 

64.0 

91.0 

8.8 

55.3 

91.4 

98.3 

16.9 

49.5 

79.2 

94.2 

.... 

44.0 

90.0 

98.9 

5.4 

47.4 

94.7 

99.3 

16.1 

75.2 

98.3 

Per  cent,  earning  under 
specified  amounts 

A 

$6 

$10 

$15 

$20 

2.2 
0.1 
6.6 

39.1 
16.9 
36.0 

78.9 
76.3 
83.4 

91.3 
93.2 
94.3 

2.1 
6.7 

21.3 
51.5 

74.3 
86.9 

96!7 

7.8 
8.6 

30.2 
53.5 

84!3 

94.0 

11.7 

2.0 

10.9 

31.3 
12.4 
26.7 

53.0 
37.3 
51.3 

.... 

IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  37 

WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES— Con/inu^ci 
Industry  Number 


Paper  and  wood  pulp: 

New  Jersey   report      3,770 

Massachusetts  report 10,281 

Kansas    report       211 

Massachusetts    Bureau    of    Statistics, 

1914 9,256 

Census  report,  1905 31,735 

Pottery: 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners     ..       1,465 
Census  report,   1905 21,838 

Printing  and  bookbinding: 

New  Jersey  report      1,117 

Massachusetts   report 4,538 

Kansas    report      1,578 

Census  report,  1905: 

Bookbinding      4,830         15.8         40.4         66.7         90.2 

Silk: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Silk— Broad  and  ribbon 11,085 

Silk  dyeing       5,130 

Silk  throwing 550 

Massachusetts  report: 

Silk     and     silk     goods     including 

throwsters 1,304 

Census  report,    1905 9,888 

Immigration  Commission: 

Silk  goods 3,077 

Silk  dyeing       1,003 

Slaughtering  and  meat  packing: 

Massachusetts    report 3,393 

Kansas  report       10,311 

Kennedy,  J.   C,  Wages  and  Family 
Budgets  in  the  Chicago  Stock 
Yards  District,  1914: 
October,    1910— good    season        ..       7,096         ....         39.5         83.0         95.9 
March   and   April,    1910 — a   duller 

period 5,762 

Census  report,   1905 30,824 

Woolen  and  worsted  goods: 

New  Jersey  report      7,116 

Massachusetts  report 31.317 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners      . .  5,147 
Strike  of  textile  workers  in  Lawrence, 

1912 8,507 

Census  report,  1905: 

Woolen  goods 27,202 

Worsted    goods         21,243 

Immigration    Commission 20,846 


6.0 

24.3 

64.2 

92.3 

0.9 

23.5 

85.8 

95.0 

17.6 

64.2 

77.3 

86.4 

2.6 

25.2 

78.5 

95.5 

17.4 

46.9 

80.5 

95.9 

27.7 

71.2 

94.2 

3.1 

93.1 

97.4 

17.2 

80.5 

94.9 

1.1 

25.2 

80.2 

95.0 

'7.0 

60.3 
37.4 

86.6 
86.7 

95.6 
97.6 

3.8 
0.7 
7.5 

43.9 
41.5 
50.7 

79.9 
81.5 

93.6 
96.8 

5.6 

55.6 

67.8 

92.2 

10.3 
15.4 

65.1 
56.1 
51.8 

93.6 
88.6 
88.6 

98.5 
98.2 
98.7 

Pil,Ri  i 


38  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Wages  of  Workers  of  Different  Races. — Investigations 
of  wages  agree  in  showing  that  workers  of  certain  races, 
or  racial  groups,  on  an  average,  work  for  less  wages  than 
do  other  workers.  The  Immigration  Commission,  for 
example,  found  that,  taking  all  the  workers  in  various 
industries  according  to  race,  some  of  the  more  striking 
differences  in  average  weekly  wage  were  as  follows : 

Average 
General  Nativity  and  Race  weekly- 

earnings 

Native-born  of  native  father  (white) $14.37 

Native-born  of  foreign  father       13.91 

Total  native-born       13.89 

Foreign-born        11.92 

Older  Immigration;  for  example: 

Canadian,  French       10.62 

English 14.13 

Finnish 13.27 

German 13.63 

Irish        13.01 

Scotch 15.24 

Welsh 22.02 

Newer  Immigration  ;  for  example : 

Croatian        11.37 

Russian,  Hebrew 12.71 

Italian,    North      11.28 

Italian,  South       9.61 

Lithuanian 11.03 

Polish     11.06 

Russian H-Ol 

Slovak 11-95 

Grand  Total 12.64 

Altogether,  however,  the  racial  differences  shown 
above  are  surprizingly  slight.  The  theory  that  workers 
of  certain  races  are  inherently  much  inferior  to  workers 
of   certain    other    races   does    not    appear    to    be    sub- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  39 

stantiated,  especially  when  other  facts  are  taken  into 
consideration.  In  fact,  from  an  examination  of  the 
available  data  the  general  statement  seems  to  be  war- 
ranted that,  while  racial  characteristics  doubtless  have 
some  effect  in  determining  the  efficiency  of  immigrant 
workers  in  American  industry,  industrial  opportunity 
appears  to  be  the  principal  determinant.  The  more 
closely  similar  the  language  and  previous  industrial  train- 
ing of  the  immigrants  of  any  race,  not  to  mention  other 
factors,  are  to  the  language  and  industrial  requirements 
in  this  country,  the  greater  will  be  their  industrial  op- 
portunity. The  longer  they  have  been  in  this  country 
the  greater  is  their  opportunity.  Both  factors  are  in- 
dicated in  the  statistics  for  all  races  of  the  older  immi- 
gration as  contrasted  with  races  of  the  newer  immigra- 
tion and  were  clearly  indicated  by  the  Immigration 
Commission's  figures.  The  wages  of  immigrant  workers 
are  found  to  differ  according  to  race  also  because  there 
is  often  a  predominance  of  the  immigrants  of  a  certain 
race  in  a  given  industry  where  wages  are  extraordinarily 
low ;  the  average  weekly  wage  rates  for  this  race  may 
thus  appear  lower  than  for  another  race  whose  racial 
characteristics  are  very  similar.  "One  of  the  most 
striking  facts  indicated  by  a  comparison  of  the  earnings 
of  races  in  the  different  industries  is  that  earning  ability 
is  more  the  outcome  of  industrial  opportunity  or  con- 
ditions of  employment  than  of  racial  efficiency  -and 
progress,"  said  the  Immigration  Commission.  This 
fact  becomes  evident  when  the  average  weekly  earnings 
of  the  members  of  a  race  or  of  several  races  in  the  cotton 


40  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

or  woolen  or  worsted  goods  industry  are  compared  with 
the  earnings  of  the  same  race  or  races  in  other  indus- 
tries. The  Lithuanians,  for  example,  were  found  to  earn 
an  average  of  $12.24  weekly  in  the  manufacture  of 
agricultural  implements  and  vehicles;  $11.60  in  cloth- 
ing; $13.60  in  copper  mining  and  smelting;  $9.87  in 
furniture;  $12.89  ^'^  iron  and  steel;  $11.98  in  iron  ore 
mining;  $9.50  in  leather;  $12.85  i"  oil  refining;  $10.87 
in  shoes;  $10.67  i^^  sugar  refining,  but  only  $7.86  in 
cotton  and  $7.97  in  woolen  and  worsted  goods  manu- 
facturing.^ 

Wages  in  Various  Industries. — Just  as  statements  of 
average  wages  do  not  accurately  portray  real  conditions, 
so  statements  of  wages  for  a  large  number  of  industries 
do  not  give  an  adequate  idea  of  a  large  proportion  of 
workers  whose  economic  status  is  thus  hidden  in  gen- 
eral conclusions.  As  the  accompanying  table,  compiled 
from  the  reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  in- 
dicates, there  are  wide  differences  in  the  levels  of  wages 
in  different  industries.  These  differences  are  cor- 
roborated by  the  large  number  of  special  reports  of 
recent  investigations  as  shown  in  the  table  on  p.  41. 

While  in  the  majority  of  the  principal  industries  of 
the  country  it  has  been  found  that  a  large  proportion — 
from  one-third  to  two-thirds,  and  in  some  cases  an  even 
greater  proportion — of  male  employees  earned  weekly 
wages  of  between  $10  and  $15,  tliere  were  also  found 
noteworthy  variations  in  the  proportions  earning  above 
and  below  this  range.     One-third  of  the  wage-earners, 

t  Reports,  Vol.  I,  pp.  387-388. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


41 


PER  CENT.  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES   18  YEARS  AND  OVER,  EARNING 

UNDER   SPECIFIED  WEEKLY  AMOUNTS  AND  OVER  $25  PER 

WEEK,  BY  INDUSTRY  AND  GENERAL  NATIVITY  GROUPS 

(Compiled  from  Reports  of  the  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission,  Vols.  19  and  20) 


Per  cent. 

,  earning 

Per  cent. 

Total 

weekly 

amounts 

earning 

Tititnhpr 

Average 
weekly 

A 

Tnorf 

Industry 

IIUUIUCI 

employees 

Under 

Under 

than  $25 

included 

earnings 

$10 

$15 

per  week 

Agricultural    Im- 

plements   . . 

21,104 

$13.09 

28 

68 

a 

Boots  and  shoes  . . 

9,906 

12.11 

31 

70 

1 

Clothing        . .      . . 

9,339 

13.30 

23 

74 

2 

Copper  mining  and 

smelting     . . 

6,797 

13.57 

8 

67 

1 

Cotton   goods 

30,607 

9.68 

62 

74 

a 

Furniture 

3,157 

11.67 

30 

84 

a 

Glass  :  Bottles     . . 

3,038 

15.73 

37 

79 

19 

Plate 

3,261 

12.07 

41 

56 

1 

Tableware 

1,858 

14.20 

30 

63 

6 

Window  . . 

1,432 

15.11 

18 

59 

9 

Iron  and  steel 

77.280 

14.35 

23 

66 

6 

Iron  ore  mining. . 

7,748 

12.72 

16 

75 

a 

Leather 

10,912 

10.64 

44 

90 

a 

Oil  refining  . .      . . 

2,942 

13.81 

27 

60 

2 

Silk  dyeing  . .      . . 

1,003 

12.13 

3 

93 

a 

Silk  goods     . . 

3,077 

12.50 

28 

75 

1 

Sugar  refining    . . 

5,656 

11.82 

25 

85 

a 

Woolen      and 

worsted 

20,846 

10.49 

52 

89 

a 

Nativity  Groups 

Foreign-born 

139,610 

11.92 

36 

80 

2 

Native-born 

80,780 

13.89 

25 

65 

5 

Total      . .     . . 

220.390 

12.64 

32 

75 

3 

a  Less  than  1  per  cent. 

taking  all  of  the  principal  industries  together,  appeared 
to  have  been  earning  more  than  $15  a  week;  but  it  has 
been  found  that  only  in  copper  mining,  plate  glass, 
tableware,  window  glass,  iron  and  steel  manufactures 
and  oil  refining,  did  one-third  of  all  the  male  em- 
ployees earn  over  $15  a  week.     On  the  other  hand,  in 


42  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

cotton  goods  and  woolen  and  worsteds,  over  half  of 
the  male  employees  were  found  to  be  earning  less  than 
$io  a  week,  while  approximately  a  third  of  those  in 
boots  and  shoes,  furniture,  glass  bottle,  tableware  and 
plate  glass,  and  leather  manufactures,  were  working  for 
less  than  $io  a  week.  Perhaps  a  better  way  of  pointing 
out  the  low-paid  industries  is  to  enumerate  those  which 
show  the  lowest  percentages  of  workers  earning  over 
$15  a  week.  Thus  it  appears  to  be  indicated  that  one- 
fourth  or  less  than  one- fourth  of  the  male  employees 
in  iron  ore  mining,  clothing,  cotton  goods,  furniture, 
glass  bottle,  leather,  silk  dyeing  and  silk  goods,  and 
woolen  and  worsteds  manufactures,  have  been  earning 
over  $15  a  week  during  the  last  few  years.  The  small- 
est proportion  of  male  workers  in  this  class  was  found 
in  silk  dyeing  and  silk  goods  manufactures,  woolen  and 
worsteds,  furniture  and  leather  manufactures.  In  some 
industries,  notably  plate  glass  manufacturing,  for  in- 
stance, there  were  found  large  numbers  of  workers  with 
low  and  high  ranges  of  wages,  with  a  relatively  high 
average  for  all.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  in  these 
industries  there  were  considerable  proportions  of  highly 
skilled  workers  as  well  as  large  proportions  of  very 
unskilled  workers. 

The  recent  Ohio  report  on  wages,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made,  affords  statistics  in  detail  as  to 
rates  of  weekly  wages  in  the  various  industries  and 
groups  of  industries  within  that  state.  The  following 
tabulation  presents  a  compilation  from  the  Ohio  statis- 
tics showing  the  percentages  of  adult  male  wage-earners 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


43 


earning  specified  wage  rates  in  various  large  industry- 
groups  : 

RATE  OF  WAGES  OF  ADULT  MALE  WAGE-EARNERS  IN  OHIO, 
IN  1914,  BY  GROUPS  OF  INDUSTRIES  « 

Per  cent,  working  at  each 
classified  rate  of  weekly 
wage 


Industry 
Groups 


Number 
of  estab- 
lishments 
reporting 


Construction  a      . .  2,291 

Manufacturers      . .  6,919 

Serviced 1,115 

Trade       3,436 

Transportation  and 

public  utilities    . .  807 


Total   number 
of  wage- 
earners 

60,529 

436,802 

14,112 

23,687 

35,047 


Under 
$18 

6 

12 
29 
12 


Under 
$15 

52 
57 
59 
64 

53 


Under 
$10 

65 
76 

80 
84 

79 


o  Including   principally   workers   in   building   trades. 

b  Including  employees  in  amusement  parks,  barber  shops,  garages,  hospitals, 
hotels,  laundries  and  dry-cleaning  establishments,  office  buildings,  restaurants, 
saloons,  and  theaters. 

Weekly  Wages  of  Female  Workers 

There  is  ample  ground  for  the  conclusion  that  from 
two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  women  workers  in  fac- 
tories, stores,  laundries,  and  in  industrial  wage-earning 
occupations  generally,  work  at  wages  under  $8  a  week. 
Since  practically  all  findings  of  minimum  wage  com- 
missions and  boards  in  the  United  States  and  the  esti- 
mates of  investigators  agree  that  the  independent  woman 
worker  can  not  live  decently  and  without  detriment  to 
her  health  on  less  than  $8  a  week,  this  fact  has  been 
given  a  great  deal  of  emphasis  during  recent  years. 

In  the  last  few  years  a  large  mass  of  data  has  been 
obtained  on  women's  wages.  Unfortunately  the  methods 
of  presentation  are  not  always  uniform  and  it  is  difficult 

•Compiled  from  Bulletin  of  the  Industrial  Commission  of  Ohio:  Rates  of 
Wages,  Hours  of  Labor,  and  Fluctuation  of  Employment  in  Ohio  in  1914,  pp. 
47-68. 


44  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

to  draw  exact  conclusions.  The  data  from  the  more 
comprehensive  recent  investigations  may  be  summarized 
briefly,  however,  in  order  to  depict  wage  conditions  for 
women  workers  generally,  before  presenting  in  a  de- 
tailed way  the  results  of  investigations  of  the  different 
industries   in   which   women   are  employed. 

For  approximately  100,000  women  workers  16  years 
of  age  and  over,  the  Federal  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners  investigation  found  that  18.6  per  cent,  received 
under  $4  a  week,  about  49  per  cent,  received  less  than 
$6,  and  nearly  yy  per  cent,  received  under  $8.  The 
results  of  the  Federal  census  of  manufactures  in  1905 
were  strikingly  similar  for  a  much  larger  number  of 
women  workers.  Of  588,000  women  workers  15  years 
of  age  and  over,  the  Census  found  that  18.4  per  cent, 
were  receiving  under  $4  a  week,  49.8  per  cent,  under 
$6,  and  77.9  per  cent,   under  $8. 

The  Federal  Immigration  Commission's  investigation 
of  57,712  women  workers  18  years  of  age  and  over 
presented  its  data  in  slightly  different  terms.  It  found 
that  about  5  per  cent,  were  earning  less  than  $5  a  week, 

45  per  cent,  under  $7.50  and  82  per  cent,  under  $10.  The 
large  majority  of  the  women  included  in  this  investiga- 
tion, however,  were  employed  in  the  cotton  goods  and 
woolen  and  worsted  manufacturing  industries. 

Two  state  reports  for  1913  and  one  for  1914  afford 
statistics  for  women  workers  in  all  industries  in  the 
respective  states.  The  New  Jersey  report  for  87,527 
workers  16  years  of  age  and  over  showed  that  4  per 
cent,  were  working  for  less  than  $4  a  week,  28  per  cent. 


IN   ^AM  ERIC  AN   INDUSTRIES  451 

for  less  than  $6,  62  per  cent,  for  less  than  $8,  and  84 
per  cent,  for  less  than  $10  a  week.  The  Massachusetts 
report  for  189,743  women  workers  18  years  of  age  and 
over  showed  that  about  i  per  cent,  were  working  for 
less  than  $4  a  week,  10  per  cent,  for  less  than  $6,  40 
per  cent,  for  less  than  $8,  and  70  per  cent,  for  less  than 
$10  a  week.  The  Ohio  report  for  96,181  female  wage- 
earners  18  years  of  age  and  over  showed  that  8  per 
cent,  were  working  for  less  than  $5  a  week,  and  21.4 
per  cent,  for  less  than  $6,  58.4  for  less  than  $8,  and 
82.4  per  cent,  for  less  than  $10  a  week.  The  Ohio 
statistics  are  presented  in  the  following  tabulation : 

CLASSIFIED  RATES  OF  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  WAGE-EARNERS 
18  YEARS  OF  AGE  OR  OVER  ^ 

Number   of   adult 

„  „■  ,,,  female  wage-earners  Per  cent. 

Rate  of  Wages  per  Week  .         ■      ,      -^   j  A:^t^-u..t:^^ 

at   each  classified  distribution 

rate 

Less  than  $4      2,629  2.7 

$  4  but  under  $  5 5,085  5.3 

5  but  under      6 12,878  13.4 

6  but  under      7 18,405  19.1 

7  but  under     8 17,178  17.9 

8  but  under      9 12,787  13.3 

9  but  under    10 10,314  10.7 

10  but  under    12 10,094  10.5 

12  but  under    15 4,822  5.0 

15  but  under    18 1,330  1.4 

18  or  over       659  .7 

Total 96,181  100.0 

The  California  Industrial  Welfare  Commission's  first 
biennial  report  (for  1913  and  1914)  contains  wage  data 
for  22,972  women  workers   18  years  of  age  and  over 

''Bulletin  of  the  Industrial  Commission  of  Ohio:  Rates  of  Wages,  Hours  of 
Labor,  and  Fluctuation  in  Employment  in  Ohio  in  1914,  p.  9.  Fred  C.  Crox- 
ton,  chief  statistician,  and  Edith  M.  Miller,  assistant  statistician. 


46  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

in  the  principal  occupations  and  industries  in  that  state, 
which  showed  that  21.3  per  cent,  received  under  $8 
per  week  and  49.1  per  cent,  under  $10,  while  28.5  per 
cent,  received  $12  and  over.  The  report  of  the  Michigan 
State  Commission  of  Inquiry  (published  in  January, 
191 5)  showed  that  according  to  reports  from  employers 
for  50,351  women  workers,  21.7  per  cent,  received  less 
than  $6,  51.4  per  cent,  received  less  than  $8,  and  73.9 
per  cent,  received  less  than  $10  per  week. 

The  Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage  Commission's 
investigations  of  cotton,  confectionery,  laundry  and 
store  workers  included  about  12,000  women  18  years  of 
age  and  over,  and  showed  that  about  10  per  cent,  re- 
ceived less  than  $4  a  week,  39  per  cent.  less  than  $6, 
and  about  69  per  cent,  less  than  $8  a  week. 

The  Minnesota  Minimum  Wage  Commission's  in- 
vestigation of  13,362  women  workers  in  St.  Paul  and 
Minneapolis  factories,  stores,  laundries,  etc.,  showed  that 
3  per  cent,  were  earning  less  than  $5  a  week,  12  per 
cent,  less  than  $6,  42  per  cent,  less  than  $8,  and  67 
per  cent,  less  than  $10 — giving  evidence  of  a  some- 
what higher  wage  level  than  in  Eastern  cities.  The 
Oregon  Social  Welfare  Committee's  investigation  of 
women  workers  in  Portland  showed  that  about  60 
per  cent,  were  earning  less  than  $10  a  week.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Kentucky  Commission  found  that  2y 
per  cent,  of  women  workers  were  working  for  wages  of 
less  than  $4  a  week  and  67  per  cent,  for  less  than  $6 
a  week. 

The  recent  investigations  of  women  workers  in  retail 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  47 

stores,  shirt,  confectionery,  and  paper  box  factories  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  conducted  by  the  New  York 
State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  showed  that 
approximately  17  per  cent,  were  earning  less  than  $5  a 
week,  and  about  75  per  cent,  less  than  $10  a  week.  This 
investigation  secured  data  from  about  42,000  women 
workers. 

While  as  a  general  rule  the  wage  investigations  state 
actual  earnings  in  a  representative  week,  and  the 
minimum  wage  commissions  give  rates  of  wages,  the 
data  are  roughly  comparable  when  the  general  fact  is 
taken  into  consideration  that  women  workers  have  been 
found,  so  far  as  available  information  shows,^  to  lose 
about  10  per  cent,  of  their  full  time  weekly  wages.  This 
does  not  include  weeks  lost  during  the  year,  however, 
and  the  evidence  appears  to  indicate  that,  on  the  whole, 
regularly  employed  women  workers  lose  from  25  to  30 
per  cent,  of  their  working  time  during  the  year,  as  will 
be  shown  in  another  part  of  this  report. 

Differences  in  Women's  Wages  According  to  In- 
dustry.— Women's  wage  statistics  show  far  greater  dif- 
ferences according  to  localities  than  do  men's  wage 
statistics,  largely  because  of  the  fact  that  the  supply  of 
women  workers  is  less  mobile  and  varies  in  size  accord- 
ing to  locality.  Where  the  wage-earning  population  is 
large  and  the  wage  level  for  male  workers  is  low,  the 
supply  is  usually  considerably  greater  than  the  demand 
because  of  the  necessity  for  the  entrance  of  women  into 

*  C.  E.  Persons:  Women's  Work  and  Wages,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Eco- 
nomics, February,  1915,  p.  212. 


48  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

industry  in  order  to  supplement  the  wages  of  heads  of 
families.  The  wage-level  of  women  workers  will  also 
be  found  to  be  low  in  these  localities.  Hence  women's 
wages  in  the  same  industry  often  exhibit  wide  variations 
in  reports  of  investigations  made  in  different  localities 
and  sections  of  the  country. 

The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  Report  on  Woman 
and  Child  Wage-Earners,  conducted  in  1907,  1908,  and 
1909,  affords  the  most  comprehensive  wage  statistics 
for  women  wage-workers  for  the  country  as  a  whole. 
This  investigation  centered  on  four  industries — cotton, 
men's  clothing,  glass  and  silk  manufacturing — in  which 
large  numbers  of  women  were  employed.  The  statistics 
are  for  actual  weekly  earnings  and  include  women  16 
years  of  age  and  over.  For  the  four  industries  named 
the  statistics  have  been  summarized  as  follows : 

PER  CENT.  OF  WOMEN  16  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND  OVER  EARNING 
UNDER  $6  AND  UNDER  $8  IN  A  REPRESENTATIVE  WEEK 

Per  cent,  earning 

Industry  Total      , ^ ^ 

Number  Under  $6      Under  |8 
Cotton : 

New  England       13.744  38.0           67.4 

Southern 12.654  68.0           92.5 

Men's  ready-made  clothing       . .     . .     10,149  49.0           73.1 

Glass         2,774  63.9           91.2 

Silk 8,596  45.4           71.1 

In  a  group  of  1,655  women  reporting  earnings  in 
department  and  other  retail  stores  in  seven  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities,  the  average  weekly  earnings  of  30.8  per 
cent,  were  found  to  be  under  $6,  and  of  66.2  per  cent, 
under  $8.  A  study  of  the  pay-rolls  of  department  and 
other  retail  stores  in  New  York,   Chicago,  and  Phila* 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  49 

delphia,  including  nearly  36,000  female  employees, 
showed  that  the  weekly  rates  of  pay  of  26.4  per  cent. 
fell  below  $6,  and  of  57.5  per  cent,  below  $8.  In  a 
group  of  4,160  women  employed  in  mills  and  factories 
in  seven  of  the  principal  cities  the  average  weekly  earn- 
ings of  40.1  per  cent,  fell  below  $6,  and  of  74.3  per 
cent,  below  $8.^ 

In  another  section  of  the  investigation,  where  the 
earnings  of  over  38,000  women  18  years  of  age  and 
over  in  23  industries  were  secured,  the  story  of  low 
wages  which  the  pay-roll  figures  tell  is  equally  striking. 
The  per  cent,  of  women  earning  under  $6  and  under  $8 
in  a  representative  week  in  each  of  these  23  industries 
is  shown  in  the  table  on  p.  50. 

The  California  Industrial  Welfare  Commission's  first 
biennial  report  (for  19 13  and  19 14)  presented  wage 
statistics  for  nearly  23,000  women  wage-earners  18 
years  and  over  in  a  number  of  specified  industries  in 
San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Oakland,  Sacramento,  and 
San  Diego,  which  are  briefly  summarized  in  the  table  at 
top  of  p.  51. 

Somewhat  similar  statistics  are  afforded  by  the  Michi- 
gan Commission  of  Inquiry  for  women  wage-workers 
in  a  number  of  industries.  Reports  as  to  wages  were 
received  from  8,358  women  in  18  different  occupations, 
and  are  summarized  in  the  tabulation  at  bottom  of  p.  51. 

Generally  speaking,  more  than  the  average  percentage 
of  women   workers   earning  less   than   $4   a   week   has 

» Vol.  V,  Wage-Earning  Women  in  Stores  and  Factories,  pp.  41,  45,  and 
46. 


50  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

PER  CENT.  OF  WOMEN  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND  OVER  EARNING 

UNDER  $6  AND  UNDER  $8  IN  A  REPRESENTATIVE  WEEK, 

BY   INDUSTRIES'" 

Per  cent,  earning 

A 

Industry                                     Number         Under  $6  Under  $ 

Canning  and  preserving,   fruits  and 

vegetables 449           59.2  93.5 

Canning  and  preserving,  oysters      . .              155            99.4  100.0 

Cans  and  boxes,  tin      225            50.2  79.5 

Cigar  boxes 335           61.8  84.5 

Cigarets 1,071            33.1  75.4 

Cigars       5.994           39.3  71.3 

Clocks  and  watches          696           33.5  72.3 

Confectionery        1,948           55.6  81.3 

Core  making 307           22.1  61.9 

Corsets     2,789           29.7  58.9 

Crackers  and  biscuits 1,273           54.0  82.0 

Hardware,  etc 803           57.9  88.2 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods      7,251            31.7  64.0 

Jewelry 129            31.8  67.4 

Needles  and  pins 427            27.2  61.6 

Nuts,  bolts,  and  screws      433           61.7  92.1 

Paper  boxes 2,213           40.1  74.5 

Pottery     503           45.5  65.8 

Rubber  and  elastic  goods 233           28.8  56.7 

Shirts,  overalls,  etc 2,371            55.5  89.9 

Stamped  and  enameled  ware     . .      . .             992            45.0  72.7 

Tobacco  and  snuff       3,670           55.6  79.7 

Woolen  and  worsted  goods      . .     . .          3,915           29.7  68.9 

Total        38,182           41.1  72.7 


been  found  in  box  manufacturing,  flower  making,  can- 
ning, cigar  and  tobacco,  glass  and  leather  manufactur- 
ing, and  in  book  making.  With  the  exception  of  a 
very  few  localities,  there  are  few  well-paid  women 
workers  in  any  industry,  if  $io  a  week  be  taken  as 
high  wages  for  women,  altho  the  recent  minimum  wage 
determinations  have  largely  eliminated  wage  rates  under 


'*  Vol.    XVIII,    Employment    of    Women    and    Children    in    Selected    Indus- 
tries, p.  23. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


51 


PER  CENT.  OF  WOMEN   18  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND  OVER  IN  CERTAIN 

INDUSTRIES  IN  FIVE   PRINCIPAL  INDUSTRIAL  CENTERS 

IN  CALIFORNIA  RECEIVING  SPECIFIED  WEEKLY 

WAGE  RATES 


Industry 


Mercantile     

Retail  candy       

Millinery       

5,  10,  and  15  cent  stores 

Laundries 

Dyeing  and  cleaning 
Telephone  companies 
Telegraph  companies 
Manufacturing  industries : 

Candy  and  biscuits 

Foods  and  drugs 

Printing  and  bookbinding. 

Paper  boxes 

Cigars  and  cigarets 

Knit  goods      


Total  manufacturing  industries   . 
Total,  all  industries 


Per  cent. 

receiving 

Number  wage- 

weekly 

wages 

earners 

un 

der 

reported 

A 

$8 

$9 

9,011 

18.0 

31.5 

759 

9.6 

35.7 

810 

27.3 

37.9 

215 

87.0 

90.7 

3,765 

26.6 

48.4 

522 

10.5 

21.8 

3,962 

12.8 

19.2 

372 

8.3 

14.8 

926 

42.4 

50.7 

1,012 

19.4 

33.9 

631 

14.7 

28.1 

342 

59.4 

69.6 

386 

42.1 

53.8 

259 

44.8 

54.8 

3,556 

41.2 

52.9 

22.972 

21.2 

35.0 

NUMBER   AND  PER   CENT.   OF  WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN   IN   MICHI- 
GAN   REPORTING   EARNINGS    UNDER    $8   AND    UNDER   $9 
PER  WEEK,   BY   OCCUPATIONS 

Under  $8  per  week      LTnder  $9  per  week 
Occupation 


Number    Per  cent.    Number    Per  cent. 


Candy    

Cigars 

Cores 

Corsets         

Hosiery  and  knit  goods 

Laundries 

Offices 

Overalls       

Paper  and  cigar  boxes 

Seeds     

Stores   

Telephone    exchanges 

Tobacco       

Women's  garments  . . 
Other  occupations  a . . 


226 
334 

34 
472 
301 
505 
141 
205 
269 
191 
1,221 
336 

88 
291 

35 


77 
42 
34 
57 
67 
70 
36 
31 
77 
90 
58 
71 
54 
48 
64 


268 
423 

50 
640 
371 
609 
197 
309 
313 
201 
1,476 
388 
115 
366 

41 


90 
53 
50 
77 
82 
84 
50 
46 
89 
95 
70 
82 
71 
61 
75 


Total 
number 
reporting 

296 
807 

99 
835 
462 
746 
396 
685 
360 
212 
2,148 
474 
162 
621 

55 


Total     4,649  56        5,767  69 

a  Shoes,  woolen  goods,  fiber  works,  and  metal  specialties. 


8,358 


52  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

$8  and  $9  in  several  industries  in  those  states  where 
a  minimum  wage  for  women  has  been  provided  by 
law. 

In  the  tables  on  pp.  53-57  is  presented  a  compilation  of 
statistics  from  recent  official  sources  showing  the  pro- 
portion of  female  workers  earning  under  specified 
amounts  weekly.  Some  of  these  data  represent  actual 
earnings ;  others,  full  time  weekly  rates  of  pay." 


'*  The  foregoing  statistics  were  compiled  from  the  following  reports  and 
publications.     The  age  limits  used  in  the  statistics  are  indicated  below: 

Census — Report   on   manufactures,   1905.      (16  years  and   over.) 

Connecticut — Bureau  of  labor:  Report  on  the  conditions  of  wage-earning 
women  and  girls,  1914. 

Consumers'  League  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania.  Pamphlet  No.  3.  Bookbind- 
ing.    1914. 

Illinois — Bureau  of  labor  statistics:  Investigation  of  women  in  department 
stores,   1908.     (Women.) 

Kentucky — Commission  to  investigate  the  conditions  of  working  women  in 
Kentucky:  Report,  December,  1911.     (Women.) 

Massachusetts — Bureau  of  statistics:  Annual  report  on  the  statistics  of  man- 
ufactures for  the   year    1913.      (18   years  and   over.) 

Massachusetts — Minimum  wage  commission:  Annual  reports,  1913,  1914. 
(16  years  and  over.) 

Minnesota — Department  of  labor:   Report  1913-14. 

Minnesota — Minimum  wage  commission:  First  biennial  report,  August  1, 
1913  to  December  31,  1914. 

Missouri — State  wage  commission,  1915.     (Women  and  children.) 

Ohio — Industrial  commission:  Wages  and  hours  of  labor  of  women  and 
girls  employed  in  mercantile  establishments  in  Ohio  in  1913.  (18  years  and 
over.) 

Oregon — Report  of  the  Social  Survey  Committee  of  the  Consumers*  League 
of  Oregon  on  the  wages,  hours  and  conditions  of  work  and  cost  and  standard 
of  living  of  women  wage-earners  in  Oregon  with  special  reference  to  Portland. 
1913.     (Women.) 

Strike  of  textile  workers  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  in  1912.  62d  Cong.,  2d  Sess., 
Senate  Doc.  No.  870.      (18  years  and  over.) 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  labor  statistics:  Wages,  etc.,  in  the  dress  and  waist  in- 
dustry in  New  York  City,   1913.      (Women.) 

U.  S.  Immigration  Commission:  Reports.     (18  years  and  over.) 

Van  Kleeck.  Artificial  flower-making.  1913;  women  in  the  bookbinding 
trade,  1913. 

Woman  and  Child  wage-earners  in  the  United  States,  1910.  61st  Cong., 
2d  Sess.,  Senate  Doc.  No.   645.      (18  years  and  over.) 

Woolston,  H.  B.  Wages  in  New  York.  (Results  of  New  York  factory 
investigating  commission.)      Survey,   February  6,    1915. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


53 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  EMPLOYEES 


Industsy 


Number 


Artificial  flower-making: 

Artificial  flower-makers — ^Van  Kleeck  171 

Census  report,   1905 1,845 

Boots  and  shoes: 

New  Jersey  report       1,577 

Massachusetts  report 29,201 

Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm.  34 

Census  report,  1905 30,195 

Immigration  Commission: 

14  years  and  under  18 1,392 

18  years  and  over 4,406 

Boxes: 

New  Jersey  report     1,444 

Massachusetts  report — Fancy   . .      . .  2,404 

Wooden    packing      322 

Kansas  report: 

Boxes  and  barrels 29 

New      York     Factory     Investigating 

Commission,  1914 5,444 

Census  report,  1905: 

Cigar 1,404 

Fancy  and  paper      10,936 

Wooden   packing      819 

Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm.  91 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners: 

Cigars          335 

Paper 2,213 

Brushes: 

New  Jersey  report     150 

Massachusetts   report 700 

Kansas    report      24 

Mass.   Min.   Wage  Commission       . .  446 

Canneries: 

Massachusetts  report 490 

Kansas  report: 

Canning,     preserving,     cider     and 

vinegar  works 98 

Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm.: 

Fruit 288 

Fish 1,166 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners: 

Fruits  and  vegetables 449 

Oysters       155 

Census  report,  1905: 

Fish 2,237 

Fruits  and  vegetables 21,651 

Oysters       72 


Per  cent,  earning  under 

specified 

amounts 

A 

A 

$4 

$6 

$8 

$10 

35.1 

67.8 

83.6 

25.3 

55.3 

73.8 

87.2 

5.2 

26.6 

54.8 

76.9 

0.7 

5.0 

20.0 

43.4 

0.0 

0.0 

11.8 

73.5 

11.4 

32.3 

56.9 

77.3 

.... 

'.'.'. 

.... 

97.8 
?8.3 

7.8 

40.0 

70.2 

93.0 

2.0 

18.4 

47.7 

75.2 

1.6 

21.7 

44.4 

73.3 

1.0 


27.5 
38.1 


17.3 


72.4 


64.2 


31.8        95.1 


96.6 
85.4 


24.7 
26.3 
25.4 

58.2 
61.0 
55.5 
16.5 

83.1 
85.3 
82.3 
48.4 

95.4 
95.4 
93.0 
Zl-4 

21.5 
10.0 

61.8 
40.1 

84.5 
74.5 

96.1 
92.4 

10.0 

46.7 

25.4 

4.2 

60.8 

79.3 
66.6 
83.3 
88.8 

94.0 

87.7 

100.0 

98.4 


38.8        46.9 


•  ••• 

10.1 

26.4 

86.5 

.... 

0.7 

6.0 

19.1 

5.8 

59.2 

93.5 

98.9 

56.1 

99.4 

100.0 

100.0 

10.0 

23.9 

47.2 

72.6 

28.6 

62.3 

84.5 

92.4 

40.3 

93.0 

100,0 

100.0 

f 
$4 

$6 

$8 

$10 

40.6 

72.4 

93.4 

98.2 

14.1 

48.7 

77.1 

84.0 

38.6 

50.0 

71.4 

88.6 

12.7 

9.6 

31.1 

39.3 
33.1 
55.6 

71.3 
75.4 
79.7 

87.6 
92.9 
90.4 

56.0 

81.1 

9\.7 

96.3 

67.6 

87.3 

94.1 

98.0 

54  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  EMPLOYEES— Conimucd 

Per  cent,  earning  under 
Industry  Number  specified  amounts 


Cigars  and  tobacco: 

New  Jersey   report      9,477 

Massachusetts  report: 

Tobacco   manufacturers 1,264 

Kansas  report: 

Cigar  factories 70 

Women  and  child  wage-earners: 

Cigars 5,994 

Cigarettes 1,071 

Tobacco  and  snuff 3,670 

Census  report,   1905: 

Cigars  and  cigarets         34,374 

Tobacco,    chewing,     smoking    and 

snuff 5,901 

Clothing: 

New  Jersey  report 839          4.2         23.6         55.9         91.7 

Massachusetts  report: 

Men's   clothing 3,642 

Women's  clothing 5,079 

Kansas   report — Garment   factories. .  379 

Minn.  Min.  Wage  Comm.,   1914      .  .  2,367 

Missouri  Senate  Wage  Comm.,  1915.  1,569 

Washington  Indust.   Welfare  Comm.  180 
Women  and  child  wage-earners: 

1910 — 18  years  and  over      ..      ..  2,371 

1911 — 16  years  and  over      ..      ..  10,149 
Wages,  etc.,  in  dress  and  waist  in- 
dustry in  New  York  City,  1913  : 

Week-workers 6,840 

Piece-workers 7,153 

Census  report,  1905: 

Men's   clothing 27,485 

Women's  clothing 26,735 

Immigration  Comm. — 14-18  years   . .  1,819 

18  years  and  over 6,186 

Confectionery: 

New  Jersey   report      608 

Massachusetts   report 4,709 

Kansas    report      238 

Mass.  Min.  Wage  Comm.,   1914      . .  3,326 
New     York     Factory     Investigating 

Commission,    1914 4,733 

Washington  Indust.   Welfare  Comm.  400 

Woman  and   child  wage-earners      ..  1,948 

Census  report,   1905 11,831 

Corsets: 

New  Jersey  report     2,634 

Massachusetts  report 2,360 

Mass.  Min.  Wage  Comm.,   1914.      ..  2,110 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners       . .  2,787 

Census  report,  1905 4,718 


1.9 

13.5 

42.8 

74.0 

1.1 

13.6 

39.6 

66.8 

15.3 

66.8 

93.1 

98.7 

1.1 

15.0 

27.6 

41.2 

19.6 

39.6 

61.2 

83.0 

2.7 

17.2 

50.0 

14.2 

56.5 

80.9 

93.3 

20.1 

49.0 

73.1 

83.0 

0.2 

5.3 

21.1 

39.3 

3.4 

6.7 

12.3 

21.8 

18.6 

49.5 

78.8 

92.8 

14.5 

39.6 

67.8 

85.7 
96.4 
76.5 

6.9 

66.9 

93.3 

97.5 

0.3 

31.5 

71.2 

93.4 

7.1 

47.0 

76.9 

90.3 

23.1 

69.6 

92.1 

97.5 

12.3 

54.6 

80.5 

90.6 

15.8 

55.3 

77.3 

16.2 

55.6 

81.3 

92.0 

36.0 

74.8 

92.9 

97.7 

3.7 

20.9 

49.1 

74.3 

1.4 

21.9 

49.9 

80.5 

9.6 

35.5 

68.7 

10.0 

29.7 

58.9 

85.3 

18.6 

41.8 

70.9 

90.1 

IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


55 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  EUTLOYEES— Continued 


Industry 


Number 


Per  cent,  earning  under 
specified  amounts 


Cotton  goods: 
New  Jersey  report: 

Cotton    goods 4,444 

Finishing  and  dyeing 817 

Massachusetts  report: 

Cotton  goods 48,264 

Cotton  small  wares 453 

Woman  and  child   wage-earners      .  .  6,492 

Report  on  Lawrence  Strike,  1912   ..  2,282 

Census  report,   1905 494,118 

Immigration  Commission: 

14  years  and  under  18 4,324 

18  years  and  over 25,324 

Furniture: 

Massachusetts  report 774 

Census  report,  1905 1,911 

Glass: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Cut  tableware 73 

Mirrors       22 

Window  glass  and  bottles     . .      . .  184 
Massachusetts  report: 

Glass   cutting,   staining   and    orna- 
menting        9 

Kansas  report: 

Glass    factories 55 

Woman  and  child   wage-earners      .  .  3,255 

Census  report,   1905 1,721 

Immigration  Comm. — 14-18  years   . .  270 

18  years  and  over 382 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods: 

New  Jersey   report      2,143 

Massachusetts    report 7,192 

Woman  and  child  wage-earners       .  .  7,251 

Census  report,  1905 29,502 

Leather: 

New  Jersey  report: 

Leather       122 

Leather  goods 327 

Massachusetts  report: 

Tanned,  curried  and  finished       ..  171 

Leather  goods 362 

Census  report,  1905: 

Tanned,  curried  and  finished       . .  1,306 

Leather    goods 887 

Immigration  Commission: 

14  years  and  under  18 182 

16  years  and  over 712 


$4 


$6 


$10 


5.8 
1.2 

35.2 
52.6 

72.1 
92.9 

93.0 
94.9 

0.5 
1.8 

13.4 
4.5 

16.7 

8.4 
16.1 
32.0 
16.2 
48.0 

37.7 
55.6 
54.3 
50.6 
80.0 

75.6 
82.6 
71.8 
91.8 
95.9 

97.2 
87.1 

2.2 
27.9 

15.5 
59.6 

43.S 
84.2 

82.2 
93.9 

1.4 

38.4 

72.6 

94.5 

•  •• 

54.5 

95.5 

100.0 

1.6 

65.2 

95.1 

97.8 

55.6 


88.9 


2i.'s 

31.6 

21.8 
64.3 
71.3 

98.2 
88.6 
89.7 

96.1 

96.1 

100.0 

96.6 

5.1 

2.7 

7.7 

17.5 

22.3 
23.7 
31.7 
48.Z 

53.0 
53.4 
64.0 
80.1 

79.4 
84.3 
84.6 
94.9 

7.4 
27.5 

40.2 
62.1 

77.0 
85.9 

91.0 

92.7 

0.6 

14.0 
21.3 

48.0 
58.8 

94.2 
82.6 

9.0 
21.5 

53.1 
56.8 

98.2 
84.1 

99.4 
92.9 

100.0 
96.1 

56 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  EMPLOYEES— CoMM'nMei 

Per  cent,  earning  under 
Industry  Number  specified  amounts 


68.8 

82.2 

47.7 

92.6 

39.2 

72.4 

$4  $6  $8  $10 

Laundries: 

Kentucky  Commission  to  Investi- 
gate   Conditions    of    Working 

women,   1911 492        24.0         

Mass.   Min.  Wage  Comm.,   1914     ..       2,961  8.2        51.5 

Oregon  Social  Survey  Committee  ..  140         ....  .... 

Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm.       2,304         ....  5.2 

Mercantile  establishments: 

Connecticut,  Bureau  of  Labor. .     . .  544  0.6        76.6        93.4         97.2 

Illinois,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
'nvestigation    of    Women    in 

department    Stores,    1908      ..       2,556         ....  10.3         31.5         49.5 

Kentucky  Commission  to  Investigate 
Conditions  of  Working  Wom- 

n,  1911      

Mass.  Min.   Wage   Coram.,   1914 
Minn.  Min.  Wage  Comm.,  1914 
Ohio  Industrial  Comm.,  1913   .. 
Oregon  Social  Survey  Committee   . . 
Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm. : 
Mercantile   establishments 

Five  and  ten  cent  stores 

New     York     Factory     Investigating 
Commission,  1914: 
Large  department  stores 
Small  neighborhood  shops 
Five  and  ten  cent  stores 

Paper  and  wood  pulp: 

New  Jersey   report 

Massachusetts  report 

Kansas  report       

Massachusetts,   Bureau   of   Statistics, 

wages  and  hours  in  the  paper 

and  wood  pulp  industry,  1914 
Census  report,  1905 6,377 

Pottery: 

Women  and  child  wage-earners 
Census  report,   1905 

Printing  and  bookbinding: 

New   Jersey    report      

Massachusetts  report 

Kansas    report      

Consumers'  League  of  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania, Pamphlet  No.  3,  1914 

Oregon    Social    Survey    Committee.. 

Washington  Indust.   Welfare   Comm. 

Women  in  the  bookbinding  trade, 
Von  Kleeck,   1913 

Census  report,  1905 4,717 


1,601 

854 

5,299 

14,635 

2,078 

30.0 
7.4 
0.9 
3.5 
0.1 

21.8 

14.9 

21.4 

9.2 

53.7 
46.9 
51.9 
31.1 

75.5 
69.7 
71.8 
58.2 

4,544 
104 

0.6 

2.2 
45.2 

10.7 
90.4 

53.0 
68.0 
99.0 

13.6 
100.0 

408 

4,438 

26 

0.5 
0.8 
3.8 

36.8 

6.2 

42.3 

86.0 
60.1 
84.6 

95.8 
94.2 
88.5 

4,463 
6,377 

5.3 
7.9 

22.5 
43.2 

69.6 
92.5 

95.4 
99.1 

503 
1,928 

16.5 
21.3 

45.5 
65.5 

65.8 
86.7 

83.1 
93.3 

565 

2,019 

933 

8.8 
0.6 
5.6 

29.4 

6.0 

18.1 

60.9 
33.0 
67.2 

67.1 
55.4 
76.6 

149 
57 
68 

15.4 

37.6 

'o!o 

68.5 

26.3 

7.4 

92.6 
56.1 
16.2 

193 
4,717 

41.9 
15.8 

88.6 
48.7 

80.6 

93.4 

Pe 

r  cent,  earning  un 
specified  amounts 

A 

der 

$4 

$6 

$8 

no 

2.8 
4.8 
2.8 
1.7 
19.1 

15.9 
15.3 
13.8 
9.3 
52.1 

43.2 
82.9 
84.1 
24.2 
78.2 

69.7 
96.1 
95.5 
53.3 
92.0 

96.9 
76.4 

0.0 

9.2 
7.1 

58.4 
75.7 

100.0 
100.0 

IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  57 

WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  FEMALE  EUPLOYEES— Continued 
Industry  Number 

Silk: 
New  Jersey  report: 

Silk — broad   and   ribbon        ..     ..  11,760 

Silk    dyeing       968 

Silk  throwing 940 

Massachusetts  report 2,728 

Census  report,   1905 17,763 

Immigration  Commission: 

14  years  and  under  18 3,465 

18  years  and  over 4,837 

Telephones: 

Consumers'  League  of  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania, 1913: 

Exchange  No.   1       130 

Exchange  No.  2       70 

Kentucky  Commission  to  Investigate 
Conditions  of  Working  Wom- 
en in  Kentucky,  1911      ..      ..  597         36.9  

Oregon  Social  Survey  Committee   ..  52         ....  ....         26.8         50.0 

Washington  Indust.  Welfare  Comm. : 

1913 1,040 

1914 1,091 

Woolen  and  worsted: 

New   Jersey      7,712 

Massachusetts  report 20,119 

Strike  of  textile  workers  in  Lawrence, 

1912 6,038 

Women  and  child  wage-earners      ..  3,915 
Census  report,  1905: 

Woolen  goods 14,515 

Worsted    goods        20,138 

Immigration  Commission: 

14  years  and  under  18 3,092 

18  years  and  over 13,789 

The  Difference  in  Wages  of  Men  and  Women 
Workers 

The  foregoing  wage  statistics  clearly  show  a  wide 
difference  between  the  wage  rates  at  which  male  wage- 
earners  work  and  the  wage  rates  at  which  female  wage- 
earners  work.  This  difference  is  seen  not  only  for 
industries  as  a  whole,  but  within  almost  every  industry 
in  which  men  and  women  are  employed. 


.... 

30.1 
16.8 

74.8 
66.5 

0.9 
0.1 

27.3 
3.8 

71.3 
40.9 

89.5 
70.5 

5.3 
6.0 

16.2 
29.7, 

64.9 
68.9 

84.3 
87.7 

9.4 
5.8 

37.9 

42.2 

68.1 
74.8 

87.3 
89.0 

97.0 
75.9 

58  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  outstanding  fact  in  connection  with  this  matter 
appears  to  be  that,  in  nearly  all  low-paid  industries, 
where  occupations  are  such  as  to  permit  the  doing  of 
work  by  women,  the  proportion  of  women  is  great. 
The  textile  and  glass  industries  are  obvious  examples 
of  this  condition.  How  far  this  is  due  solely  to  the 
willingness  of  women  to  work  for  less  wages  than  men 
can  not,  of  course,  be  stated.  More  importance,  it  is 
believed,  should  be  assigned  to  a  condition  which  ap- 
pears to  be  more  clear-cut  and  prevalent.  It  is  this: 
in  low-paid  industries  male  workers  are  frequently  unable 
to  earn  sufficient  income  to  support  their  families,  and 
their  wages  must  be  supplemented  by  wages  earned  by 
their  wives  and  daughters.  Wherever,  as  a  general  rule, 
these  industries  offer  to  women  opportunities  for  employ- 
ment, the  presence  of  women  wage-earners  is  typical. 
Even  where  these  industries  do  not  offer  opportunities 
for  employment  to  women,  the  necessity  for  additional 
income  in  the  families  of  wage-earners  forces  their 
wives  and  daughters  into  other  industries  in  the  same 
localities  where  the  opportunity  for  female  employment 
exists. 

Aside  from  the  potency  of  what  appears  to  be  the 
fundamental  cause  of  the  employment  of  women  in 
industrial  occupations,  the  significant  fact  has  been 
brought  out  in  detailed  studies  of  different  occupations 
in  the  same  industries  that,  in  practically  every  industry 
studied,  men's  wages  ranged  higher  than  women's, 
and  the  proportion  earning  fair  or  good  wages  was 
very    much    larger    among   the    men    than    among    the 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  59 

women.  The  extensive  federal  investigation  of  woman 
and  child  wage-earners  brought  out  this  condition  very 
clearly,  as  subsequent  studies  in  specific  industries  and 
localities  have  done.  The  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners'  report  showed  that  the  higher  wages  of  men 
were  due,  in  very  large  degree,  to  a  difference  in  the 
work  done  by  men  and  women;  to  a  less  degree,  it 
seemed  due  to  a  difference  in  strength,  swiftness,  or 
skill  when  they  were  doing  the  same  work;  and  in  a 
very  few  instances,  so  few  as  to  be  negligible,  it  seemed 
due  to  no  other  cause  than  that  the  women  were  willing 
to  do  the  work  for  less  and  therefore  were  employed. 
The  first  cause,  in  difference  in  the  kind  of  work 
done,  was  especially  noticeable  in  the  group  of  mis- 
cellaneous factory  industries  studied.  In  industry  after 
industry  a  clear-cut  division  of  work  between  the  sexes 
was  found.  Ordinarily  the  occupations  involving  skill, 
training,  and  responsibility  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
men,  while  the  work  of  the  women  was  apt  to  be  at 
best  only  semi-skilled,  and  in  many  cases  was  purely 
mechanical.  Under  these  circumstances  the  difference 
in  the  earnings  of  the  sexes  was  very  marked.  Thus,  of 
31,288  male  workers  18  years  of  age  and  over  engaged 
in  these  industries,  well  over  one-half  (56.5  per  cent.) 
earned  $10  or  more  a  week,  while  of  the  38,182  female 
workers  in  the  same  age  group  employed  in  these  in- 
dustries, only  one-tenth  (10.5  per  cent.)  earned  as  much 
or  more  than  $10.  Two-fifths  of  the  women  (41. i 
per  cent.),  as  against  9.5  per  cent,  of  the  men,  earned 
under  $6  a  week. 


6o  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

Even  when  men  and  women  were  nominally  engaged 
in  the  same  occupation  there  was  frequently  a  difference 
in  the  kind  and  quality  of  work  undertaken  by  them. 
Thus,  in  gilding  pottery,  the  simplest  form,  lining,  is  done 
almost  wholly  by  women,  while  the  more  difficult  form, 
filling  in  designs,  is  done  by  both  sexes.    The  report  says  : 

"But  there  is  no  competition  between  them,  as  the 
men  do  the  artistic  work  which  requires  long  pre- 
liminary training,  while  the  women  do  those  parts  which 
may  be  learned  in  a  few  months.  The  men  receive 
higher  wages  and  are  said  to  be  displacing  the  women, 
partly  because  they  do  better  work  and  partly  because 
they  can  move  their  ware  about  without  assistance.''^ 

When  men  and  women  were  engaged  in  exactly  the 
same  work  under  the  same  circumstances  it  was  apt  to 
be  at  piece  rates.  Under  these  circumstances  the  differ- 
ence in  earnings  was  usually  less  and  sometimes  was  in 
favor  of  the  female  workers.  Thus,  in  the  New  Eng- 
land cotton  mills  the  average  earnings  per  hour  of  male 
weavers  i6  years  of  age  and  over  were  17  cents,  while 
for  female  weavers  in  the  same  age  group  they  were 
15.4  cents.  Male  ring  spinners  16  years  of  age  and 
over  averaged  11.6  cents  per  hour,  while  female  ring 
spinners  averaged  12.6  cents  per  hour.  When  in  such 
occupations  men  made  higher  earnings  it  seemed  to  be 
due  sometimes  to  their  greater  strength  which  enabled 
them   to    handle    their   machines    to    better    advantage, 

"Woman  and  Child  Wage-earners:  Vol.  XVIII,  Employment  of  Women 
and  Children  in  Selected  Industries,  p.  268.  See  the  excellent  summary  of  the 
Woman  and  Child  V/aKC-earners'  report  published  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
I.abnr  Statistics  (Bulletin  175),  from  which  much  of  the  above  paragraphs 
has  been  taken.      (See  especially  pp.  23   and  24.) 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  6i 

sometimes  to  an  ability  to  work  at  greater  speed,  and 
sometimes  to  greater  skill  or  longer  experience. 

Annual  Earnings  of  Wage-Workers 

An  examination  of  all  authoritative  data  on  annual 
earnings  of  workers  during  recent  years  appears  to  in- 
dicate that  the  following  are  warrantable  conclusions : 

1.  That  fully  one-fourth  of  the  adult  male  workers 
in  the  principal  industries  and  trades,  who  are  heads  of 
families,  earned  less  than  $400,  one-half  less  than  $600, 
four-fifths  less  than  $800,  and  less  than  one-tenth 
earned  as  much  as  $1,000  a  year. 

2.  That  fully  a  third  of  all  male  workers  18  years  of 
age  and  over  in  the  principal  industries  and  trades, 
whether  heads  of  families  or  not,  earned  less  than  $400, 
two-thirds  earned  less  than  $600,  and  about  one-twen- 
tieth earned  over  $1,000  a  year. 

3.  That  approximately  a  fourth  of  women  workers 
18  years  of  age  and  over  who  are  regularly  employed 
in  the  principal  manufacturing  industries  earned  less 
than  $200,  and  two-thirds  earned  less  than  $400  a  year. 

The  sources  of  information  for  annual  earnings  of 
workers  in  the  principal  industries  and  trades  are  un- 
fortunately limited,  and  the  exactness  of  the  above  state- 
ments is  subject  to  qualification.  The  Federal  Immi- 
gration Commission's  reports  and  the  Federal  Bureau 
of  Labor's  report  on  cost  of  living  are  practically  the 
only  sources  affording  information  on  the  proportions 
earning  specified  amounts  in  different  industries.  State 
reports   of   Massachusetts,    New   Jersey,    Pennsylvania 


62  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

and  Wisconsin,  afford  data  on  average  annual  earnings 
according  to  industry,  but  the  accuracy  of  these  reports 
is  open  to  serious  question  because  of  the  methods 
used  in  ascertaining  earnings.  Some  writers  attempt  to 
compute  annual  earnings  by  multiplying  weekly  earn- 
ings by  52  and  deducting  the  wage  equivalent  of  time 
lost.  Even  assuming  that  the  amount  of  time  lost  can 
be  ascertained  with  any  approximation  of  accuracy — a 
very  doubtful  assumption  indeed — the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  computing  the  proportions  of  workers  earning 
specified  annual  earnings  are  so  great  as  to  render  such 
statistics  of  only  corroborative  value  at  best.  In  an- 
other section  of  this  volume  the  data  for  weekly  earn- 
ings have  been  summarized  in  detail  as  well  as  the  data 
for  lost  working  time;  the  data  for  annual  earnings 
here  presented  are  confined  to  statistics  giving  actual 
annual  earnings  of  workers  whose  economic  status  has 
been  investigated  by  recognized  authorities. 

Statistics  of  annual  earnings  of  native  and  foreign- 
born  show  a  considerably  lower  economic  status  for  the 
latter  group,  for  both  males  and  females.  In  the 
table  on  p.  63  are  given  the  statistics  from  the  two 
sources  of  data  for  annual  earnings  of  male  workers. 
The  males   in  all   instances  were  heads   of   families. 

Altho  these  investigations  were  made  several  years 
ago,  they  afford  the  latest  trustworthy  data. 

Relatively  lower  earnings  of  male  heads  of  fami- 
lies are  shown  by  the  Immigration  Commission's  re- 
ports than  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor's  inquiry.  This  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Immigration  Commission's 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  63 

statistics  are  chiefly  of  immigrant  workers,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  whom  were  unskilled  workers  from  southern 
and  eastern  Europe,  while  the  Bureau  of  Labor's  data 
are  for  native  and  older  immigrant  workers  from  north- 
ern Europe  and  Great  Britain.  The  Immigration  Com- 
mission's figures  for  native  born  workers  are  more 
nearly  comparable  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor's  data  and  a 
comparison  indicates  a  close  similarity.  The  preponder- 
ance of  newer  immigrants  in  the  principal  industries 
can  not  be  overlooked  and,  in  the  conclusions  stated 
in  the  foregoing  paragraphs,  was  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. 


Number  for 

Per  cent. 

earning 

Source   of    Data; 

whom  d^t^ 

A 

were 

Under 

Under 

Under 

Under 

obtained 

$400 

$600 

$800 

$1,000 

Bureau  of  Labor, 

1903 

25,440 

12.5 

47.2 

81.9 

92  2 

Immigration    Commis- 

sion, 1908-1909—' 

Iota! 

15,038 

31.4 

66.5 

89.2 

96.0 

Native-born  . 

•     •  • 

1,809 

12.2 

40.7 

72.4 

87.0 

Foreign-born 

13,229 

34.1 

70.0 

91.5 

97.2 

The  wages  according  to  industry  have  already  been 
indicated  in  the  data  summarized  for  weekly  wages. 
Since  the  amount  of  lost  working  time  is  greater  in 
some  industries  than  in  others,  it  is  important  to  note 
differences  in  actual  earnings  according  to  some  of  the 
principal  industries. 

The  highest  annual  earnings  of  all  male  workers,  ac- 
cording to  statistics  obtained  from  over  26,000  indi- 
viduals 18  years  of  age  and  over  by  the  Federal  Immi- 
gration Commission,"  were  found  in  the  manufacture 
of  cigars  and  tobacco,  in  copper  mining  and  smelting, 

'*  Immigration  Commission  Reports,  Vol.  19,  p.  226. 


64  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

and  in  iron  ore  mining.  Less  than  a  fourth  of  the  to- 
bacco workers  and  copper  miners  and  about  28  per  cent, 
of  the  iron  ore  workers  earned  less  than  $600  a  year. 
In  all  of  the  other  industries  for  which  data  were 
secured,  except  collar  and  cuff  manufacturing,  over  half 
of  the  male  workers  earned  less  than  $600.  The  lowest 
annual  earnings  were  found  in  woolen  and  worsted, 
cotton  goods,  iron  and  steel,  and  leather  manufacturing, 
and  slaughtering  and  meat-packing.  The  statistics  are 
summarized  in  the  following  table: 

YEARLY  EARNINGS  (APPROXIMATE)  OF  MALES  18  YEARS  OF 
AGE  OR  OVER,  BY  INDUSTRY  '* 

Per  cent,  earning- 

, * , 

Industry  Under     Under      Under    Under 

$200         $400  $600       $1,000 

Agricultural  implements  and  vehicles..  5.1  24.3  61.0  96.9 

Cigars  and  tobacco 1.3  5.6  16.3  80.0 

Clothing        6.2  33.3  66.9  97.2 

Coal  mining,  anthracite 2.8  38.7  93.2  99.6 

Coal  mining,  bituminous 5.3  44.8  85.4  99.2 

Collars   and   cuffs      2.0  13.1  43.0  94.0 

Copper  mining  and  smelting 0.3  1.9  19.7  96.7 

Cotton  goods       11.5  53.8  88.2  99.5 

Furniture      2.7  18.3  58.0  97.1 

Glass      6.1  21.7  57.9  94.7 

Gloves 1.3  11.7  40.3  96.5 

Iron  and  Steel 24.1  68.4  90.2  98.6 

Iron  ore  mining 2.4  11.9  28.6  92.5 

Leather         17.4  52.9  86.6  98.4 

Oil  refining 2.9  23.7  60.4  94.2 

Shoes     8.0  41.8  70.0  95.0 

Silk  goods 9.6  49.2  78.5  99.4 

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing    . .      . .  12.2  22.2  64.9  95.9 

Sugar  refining 3.7  19.3  63.2  98.7 

Woolen  and  worsted  goods 14.9  61.4  89.5  99.4 

Diversified  manufactures        4.5  34.3  70.8  95.7 

Total      8.8       40.9       74.7       97.3 

'*  Immigration  Commission  Reports,  Vol.  19,  p.  226. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  65 

The  data  according  to  industry  for  annual  earnings 
of  heads  of  families  afforded  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor's 
Cost  of  Living  study  in  1901  are,  of  course,  not  com- 
parable to  the  Immigration  Commission's  figures,  but 
they  indicate  some  of  the  principal  differences  noted 
above.  The  following  table  summarizes  the  Bureau  of 
Labor's  statistics  for  the  principal  manufacturing  in- 
dustries : 

ANNUAL  EARNINGS  OF  HEADS  OF  25,440  FAMILIES;  PER  CENT. 
IN  SPECIFIED  GROUP  OF  EARNINGS.  BY  INDUSTRY '^ 

•Under  Under  Under  Under 

Industry  $300  $500  $800  $1,000 

Chemicals     4.3  44.8  89.0       98.2 

Clay,  glass  and  stone       2.7  23.1  70.4        92.2 

Food      2.8  26.6  89.8       97.1 

Hand  trades: 

Iron  and  steel 2.1  23.0  77.0        94.4 

Leather 4.4  29.7  91.7       98.0 

Lumber  and  its  manufactures       . .     . .       4.3  40.4  89.5        97.7 

Metals  (other  than  iron  and  steel)     . .       1.4  19.9  81.0        95.0 

Paper  and  printing 1.8  14.9  64.5        84.1 

Textiles        11.0  49.8  81.3        93.9 

Tobacco        6.1  34.7  83.8       97.7 

Vehicles        1.6  24.7  82.6  95.5 

Grand  total  o      4.5       29.6       82.2       88.5 

a  Includes  heads  of  25,440  families  in  all  industries. 

Statistics  of  annual  earnings  of  copper  mine  workers 
in  Michigan  are  afforded  by  the  Immigration  Commis- 
sion, as  given  in  the  summary  table  already  quoted,  as 
well  as  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor's  investigation  of  the 
1912  strike.  The  data  obtained  by  the  latter  investiga- 
tion tend  to  corroborate  the  Immigration  Commission's 
figures,  altho  annual  earnings  must  be  computed   from 

^s  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor,  p.  285. 


66  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

daily  earnings  and  do  not  take  into  consideration  lost 
time.  However,  since  nearly  all  of  the  mines  operated 
308  days  or  over  in  191 2,  lost  time  included  only  that 
lost  voluntarily  or  on  account  of  sickness  or  accidents, 
payment  being  by  the  shift.  The  following  tabulation 
may  therefore  be  said  to  show  the  possible  annual  earn- 
ings of  miners  and  trammers  based  on  their  actual 
earnings  during  the  month  of  May,  1913: 

Per  cent,  earning  at  specified  rates 

A . 

f  \ 

Maximum  Limit  of  Annual  Earnings  Miners  Trammers 

Under  $616 a  a 

$616-$693      2.7  28.7 

693-770      54.5  57.5 

770-  847      27.8  7.7 

847-1,234 8.5  5.2 

1,234-1.309     . .     3.9  0.7 

Over  $1,309 2.5  02 

a  Less  than  one-tenth  of  1  per  cent. 

Over  80  per  cent,  of  the  miners  were  found  to  be 
earning,  at  annual  rates,  between  $700  and  $800,  and 
over  85  per  cent,  of  the  trammers  were  found  to  be 
earning,  at  annual  rates,  between  $600  and  $770.  The 
Immigration  Commission's  figures  of  actual  earnings 
showed  that  yy  per  cent,  of  workers  18  years  of  age 
and  over,  engaged  in  copper  mining  and  smelting,  had 
annual  earnings  between  $600  and  $1,000.  The  average 
annual  earnings  was  found  by  the  same  investigation 
to  be  $716,  which  was,  with  the  exception  of  cigar  and 
tobacco  workers,  the  highest  average  annual  earnings 
of  workers  in  all  the  principal  industries  investigated. 

Some  data   relating   to  the   opportunity    for   annual 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  67 

earnings  afforded,  and  thus  of  the  maximum  possible 
earnings,  were  obtained  for  workers  in  the  steel  in- 
dustry from  the  report  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor 
on  Conditions  of  Employment  in  that  industry.  In 
plants  operating  9  or  more  months  in  19 10,  fully  three- 
fourths  of  the  74,000  workers  did  not  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  earn  more  than  $800,  and  over  one-third  could 
not  have  earned  more  than  $600,  if  they  had  worked 
every  day  the  plants  were  operating.  The  situation  is 
indicated  in  the  following  table : 


OPPORTUNITIES    FOR   ANNUAL   EARNINGS    FOR   STEEL   WORKERS 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  DURING  1910  '" 

Per  cent,  of  employees  having  opportunity 

to  earn  specified  amounts  in  plants 

operating   during   1910 — 

Classified  Annual  Earnings  ,. '^ ^ 

9  or  more  6  and  under  3  and  under 

months  9  months  6  months 

Under  $400 5.1  34.7  83.8 

Under    600 38.3  77.8  95.0 

Under    800 74.3  88.7  98.4 

Under  1,000 87.3  93.4  99.5 

Total  employees     . .     . .  73,904  12,686  4,009 

Statistics  of  annual  earnings  of  women  workers  for 
specific  industries  are  so  meager  as  to  be  of  doubtful 
value.  The  Immigration  Commission's  figures  included 
only  3,609  female  workers  in  a  large  number  of  in- 
dustries. Without  attempting  to  suggest  conclusions  for 
different  industries,  the  following  table  of  annual  earn- 

'*  Compiled  from  statistics  published  in  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the 
Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  559-560,  565,  570.  The  figures  are  for 
steel  plants,  all  principal  departments,  in  New  England,  Eastern,  Pittsburgh, 
Great  Lakes  and  Middle  West,  and  Southern  districts.  By  "opportunity  to 
earn"  is  meant  working  full  time  every  day  the  plant  was  operated  in  1910. 


Per  cent,  earning 

A 

Under 

Under 

Under 

$200 

$300 

$400 

34.2 

61.1 

81.9 

10.6 

37.4 

58.6 

17.1 

39.2 

75.0 

37.6 

63.0 

85.5 

18.5 

40.2 

63.4 

19.3 

43.1 

78.0 

21.3 

51.9 

80.6 

68  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

ings  of  women  workers,  i8  years  of  age  and  over,  ac- 
cording to  industry,  is  presented.  Those  industries  in 
which  data  for  less  than  lOO  workers  were  secured  are 
omitted.^^ 


Industby 

Clothing        

Collars  and  cuflfs       

Cotton  goods     

Gloves  

Shoes 

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing 
Woolen  and  worsted 


Data  for  a  larger  number  of  women  workers  in  four 
large  industries  were  afforded  by  the  Federal  Woman 
and  Child  Wage-Earners  report,  altho  in  different  form 
from  the  Immigration  Commission's  statistics.  These 
data  are  for  average  annual  earnings  of  about  7,000 
women  16  years  of  age  and  over,  and  are  of  especial 
interest  because  they  indicate  differences  in  earnings  by 
women  or  various  ages.  The  data  were  obtained  in  the 
course  of  studies  of  wage-working  families  and  are 
summarized  on  p.  69.^' 

It  will  be  noted  that  with  the  exception  of  the  com- 
paratively few  women  workers  over  25  years  of  age, 
the  maximum  annual  earnings  was  reached  between  the 
ages  of  18  and  22  years,  but  approximate  y  at  the  age 
of  19  or  20. 

"  Compiled  from  the  reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  19,  p.  228. 
"  U.   S.   Bureau   of  Labor  Sfafistics:   Rulletin   175,   Summary  of  the  Report 
on   Condition  of  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  p.   26. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


69 


AGE  AND  EARNINGS  OF  FEMALE  WORKERS,  AGE  .16  OR  OVER,  IN 
FOUR  SPECIFIED  INDUSTRIES 


Cotton 

mills. 

Northern 


Cotton 

mills. 

Southern 


Si 

a 

Is 

u 
*> 

Ji^ 

x> 

n  C 

x> 

B 

3 

^•S 

B 
3 

^ 

< 

Z 

Ready- 
made 
garments 
Men's 


Glass- 
workers 


c 

E  "> 
S3  *■ 

< 


New 

Jersey 

silk 

workers 


fco.S 


Pennsyl- 
vania 
silk 
workers 


16  years. . 

17  years.  . 

18  years.  . 

19  years. . 

20  years. . 

21  years. . 

22  years. . 

23  years. . 

24  years.. 

25  to  29 
years  ... 

30  years  or 
over  . . . 


164 
151 

158 
116 
98 
64 
58 
36 
38 

73 

61 


$272 
302 
304 
350 
321 
347 
354 
345 
369 

374 

340 


298 

217 

212 

140 

98 

82 

56 

32 

43 

68 

42 


$227 

405 

231 

338 

234 

289 

248 

230 

246 

183 

243 

136 

244 

119 

260 

64 

243 

43 

248 

112 

265 

68 

$207 
238 
273 
287 
281 
310 
310 
313 
274 

309 

313 


283 

233 

197 

106 

106 

75 

56 

45 

36 

52 

43 


$163 
182 
214 
206 
232 
219 
214 
244 
246 

292 

263 


105 
101 
85 
77 
67 
45 
44 
42 
35 

95 

84 


$257 
280 
335 
320 
356 
391 
409 
404 
443 

419 

418 


192 
142 
102 
55 
47 
38 
29 
27 
11 

29 

14 


fl66 
188 
187 
201 
215 
238 
276 
255 
249 

302 

322 


Recent  Increases  in  Wage  Rates 

It  should  be  borne  In  mind  that  the  statistics  of 
weekly  wage  rates  and  weekly  earnings  summarized  in 
the  foregoing  pages  were  obtained  prior  to  the  advances 
in  wages  made  in  a  large  number  of  industries  and 
trades  in  191 5  and  1916,  especially  in  19 16.  How  far 
the  conclusions  indicated  above  may  be  qualified  by 
these  advances  is,  of  course,  impossible  of  statement 
until  later  statistics  are  available.  So  far  as  annual 
earnings  of  wage-workers  are  concerned,  the  period 
of  extraordinary  industrial  activity  which  began  in 
the  summer  of  191 5  must  be  regarded  in  the  same  light 
as  cyclical  fluctuations  in  industrial  activity. 


70  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  recent  advances  in  wage  rates  which  have  been 
occasioned  by  the  unusual  demand  for  labor  at  a  time 
of  restricted  immigration  constitute,  of  course,  a  cer- 
tain advantage  in  economic  status  to  wage-earners  in 
many  instances.  The  three  increases  of  lo  per  cent, 
during  191 6  in  the  wages  of  steel  workers  in  the 
employ  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  and 
of  a  number  of  other  large  iron  and  steel  manufac- 
turing companies,  and  of  5  and  10  per  cent,  in  textile 
mills  in  New  England  and  in  some  other  sections,  are 
among  the  most  noteworthy  advances  in  industries  em- 
ploying large  numbers  of  low-paid,  unskilled  or  semi- 
skilled workers.  The  wage  increases  in  the  coal  min- 
ing industry  secured  by  agreements ;  among  shopmen, 
trackmen,  and  station  men  on  a  large  number  of 
railroads;  copper  and  other  metal  miners;  machinists 
in  a  large  number  of  industries  and  localities  and  muni- 
tion workers  generally ;  street  railway  employees ;  and  in 
many  other  trades  and  occupations;  have  indicated  that 
an  apparently  general  upward  wage  movement  has  oc- 
curred in  the  principal  industries  and  trades  and  occu- 
pations.^^ With  the  exception,  however,  of  steel,  mine, 
and  textile  workers,  the  largest  increases  appear  to  have 
taken  place  in  the  skilled  occupations,  particularly  in 
the  metal  working  plants.  How  far  these  increases  in 
rates,  aside  from  the  increases  in  earnings  made  possible 
by  steady  employment  during  a  period  of  great  indus- 
trial activity,  have  kept  pace  with  increases  in  prices  of 

"  Answers  frfim  manufacturers  to  a  questionnaire  sent  out  by  the  Philadelphia 
Reserve  Board  Agent  in  .\pril,  1916,  and  published  in  the  AnnaJijt  of  April  24, 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  71 

necessaries  and  of  the  ordinary  comforts  used  by  wage- 
earning  families,  is  impossible  of  statement  until  ac- 
curate statistics  are  obtained  and  published. 


1916,  showed  the  following  percentages  of  increases  in  wages  as  compared  with 
the  same  period  in  1915,  by  industries: 

Per  cent,  increase  in 

Industries  Reporting  wages  over  year 

ago  (1915) 

(Approximate  average) 

Agricultural  implements 9 

Automobiles  and  parts        17 

Carpets,   rugs,   oilcloth,  linoleum      5 

Cement,  lime,  etc 13 

Chemicals   (fertilizers,  soap,  etc.) 11 

Clothing 11 

Coal   and   coal    mining        5 

Confectionery         8 

Cotton  and  cotton  goods 8 

Department   stores        7 

Dry  goods,  etc 13 

Electrical  supplies,  etc IS 

Flour  and  grist  mill  products IS 

Furniture                9 

Glass         5 

Groceries,  etc 12 

Hardware        13 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods       9 

Iron  and  steel       IS 

Leather,   glazed  kid,  and   shoes        9 

Lumber,   millwork         10 

Machinery,   foundry  products,  loco.,  etc 14 

Paints,    etc 19 

Paper  and  products 13 

Petroleum,   etc 12 

Pottery,  pressed  brick,  etc 12 

Rubber  goods          14 

Shipbuilding IS 

Silks,  laces,  etc 9 

Slaughtering,    etc 10 

Tobacco  and  cigars       6 

Woolens,    etc.        12 

Miscellaneous  a      7 

Total 11 

a  Including  roofing  materials,  plumbers'  supplies,  office  machines,  dental  sup* 
plies,  hats,  watches,  advertising. 


^2  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

III 
LOSS  IN  WORKING  TIME 

Irregularity  of  employment  as  a  condition  of  labor 
involves  more  than  irregularity  or  uncertainty  in  the 
demand  for  labor.  It  involves  also  those  factors  which 
determine  the  worker's  ability  to  grasp  or  retain  the 
opportunity  for  employment  which  industry  actually 
offers. 

In  recent  years  almost  disproportionate  attention  has 
been  given,  in  discussions  of  the  problems,  to  factors 
governing  the  demand  for  labor,  or,  more  specifically, 
to  those  causes  in  the  operation  and  management  of 
industry  which  result  in  the  lack  of  work.  Of  scarcely 
less  importance  are  those  causes  which  hinder  and  pre- 
vent workers  from  enjoying  to  the  maximum  extent  the 
chance  for  work  which  is  already  present.  If  the  ques- 
tion is  to  be  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  wage- 
earner,  and  therefore  as  a  condition  affecting  his  eco- 
nomic welfare,  both  of  these  phases  should  receive  at- 
tention. On  the  one  hand,  there  are  conditions  affecting 
the  regularity  of  the  demand  for  labor,  such  as  seasonal 
and  cyclical  fluctuations  in  industry  and  methods  of 
employing  and  utilizing  the  labor  force  in  industrial 
establishments.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  conditions 
affecting  the  supply  of  labor — its  physical  efficiency,  its 
ability  to  meet  changes  in  the  character  of  labor  needed, 
and  its  mobility  in  responding  to  the  geographical  and 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  73 

seasonal  irregularities  in  the  demand.  The  extent  of 
the  effects  of  these  factors,  and  their  causes,  are  funda- 
mental considerations  in  understanding  irregularity  of 
employment  as  a  condition  of  labor. 

From  this  point  of  view,  therefore,  irregularity  of 
employment  may  best  be  considered  as  actual  loss  in 
working  time  by  wage-earners.  Interpreted  in  terms  of 
the  worker's  economic  status,  this  means  decreased  earn- 
ings, irregularity  in  income,  economic  insecurity,  and 
loss  of  efficiency,  which  in  turn  result  in  inability  to 
work  regularly — one  of  the  vicious  circles  that  render 
problems  of  labor  so  baffling.  It  means  that,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  inability  of  workers  to  work,  or  to  get  work, 
unemployment  persists  to  such  an  extent  that  in  no 
industry  or  occupation  does  the  number  of  unemployed 
workers  ever  reach  zero.  This  "irreducible  minimum" 
of  unemployment  is  not  due,  as  Mr.  W.  H.  Beveridge 
has  pointed  out,  to  "the  chronic  idleness  of  a  few,  but  to 
the  incessant  loss  of  time  now  by  some,  now  by  others, 
of  a  comparatively  large  body  of  men,  most  of  whom 
are  more  often  in  unemployment  than  out  of  it."^  For 
the  purpose  of  clearness,  the  available  data  relating  to 
the  extent  of  this  condition  of  labor  are  summarized  in 
this  chapter  under  the  following  heads : 

1.  The  wage-earner's  loss  in  working  time,  including 
general  statements  and  statistics,  and  statistics  for 
specified  industries,  trades,  and  occupations. 

2.  The  extent  of  unemployment. 

In    the    succeeding   chapter    some    of    the    more    im- 

*  Unemployment :  A  Problem  of  Industry,  p.  72. 


74  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

portant  data  bearing  on  the  causes  of  irregularity  of 
employment  are  summarized. 

The   Wage-Earner's  Loss  in   Working   Time 

Any  estimate  of  the  average  amount  of  time  lost  by 
the  average  wage-worker  employed  even  in  those  in- 
dustries operating  normally  throughout  the  year  must 
be  extremely  hazardous.  Were  sufficient  data  available 
to  admit  of  a  satisfactory  estimate  for  any  one  year,  the 
difficulty  of  selecting  a  normal  year  would  be  sufficient 
to  invalidate  any  statement  if  exprest  in  exact  terms. 
Just  as  in  the  case  of  statements  of  average  wages  or 
average  earnings,  a  statement  of  an  average  loss  of 
time  would  not  afford  a  true  picture  of  the  wide  differ- 
ence between  the  "regularly"  and  the  "irregularly"  em- 
ployed. 

Some  estimate  of  loss  in  working  time  by  the  average 
American  wage-earner,  however,  is  necessary  to  enable 
the  student  to  form  an  intelligent  idea  of  irregularity 
of  employment  as  a  condition  of  labor.  It  must  of 
necessity  be  a  very  rough  estimate,  based  upon  data 
obtained  in  the  numerous  investigations  and  observa- 
tions during  recent  years,  and  may  be  stated  as  follows : 
A  careful  review  of  the  available  data  indicates  that 
the  average  wage-earner,  employed  in  the  principal 
manufacturing  and  mining  industries  which  operate 
throughout  the  normal  year,  loses  from  lo  to  20  per 
cent,  of  his  possible  working  time  during  the  year. 
This  estimate  takes  into  consideration  all  causes  of  loss 
in  working  time  and  may  be  said  to  be  a  rough  average. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  75 

It  is  subject  to  important  qualifications.  The  loss  of 
working  time  is  much  greater  in  some  years  than  in 
others.  For  example,  the  average  loss  of  time  per 
worker  doubtless  exceeded  two  of  the  twelve  months 
ending  on  June  31,  191 5,  and  doubtless  was  less 
than  one  during  the  succeeding  twelve  months  of  extra- 
ordinary activity.  The  amount  of  lost  working  time 
also  varies  for  workers  in  different  industries  and  in 
different  occupations  and  trades.  Loss  of  time  appears 
to  be  greatest  in  bituminous  coal  mining,  iron  and  steel 
manufacturing,  leather,  woolen  and  worsted,  clothing, 
meat-packing  and  slaughtering,  and  in  all  industries 
where  the  proportion  of  unskilled  labor  is  great.  The 
amount  of  lost  time  varies  also  according  to  different 
plants  within  the  same  industry  and  according  to  locality 
and  section  of  the  country.  Thus,  in  bituminous  coal 
mining,  mine  workers  in  1913  in  Virginia  lost  only  26 
out  of  306  possible  working  days  during  the  year,  while 
in  Illinois  and  Indiana  they  lost  116  and  117  days  out 
of  the  306,  because  of  the  conditions  of  the  industry 
alone.  The  amount  of  lost  time  varies,  too,  with  the 
individual  worker  and  the  class  of  worker.  It  has  been 
found  that  the  lowest-paid  worker  is  subject  to  the 
greatest  loss  in  working  time,  not  simply  because  he  is 
unskilled,  but  because  he  is  poorly  nourished  and 
weakened  by  the  effects  of  unfavorable  conditions  of 
living  and,  in  many  instances,  by  unbearably  severe  con- 
ditions of  work.  The  skilled  worker,  it  has  been  found, 
and  the  better-paid  worker  under  all  conditions,  has  at 
practically  all  times  less  chance  of  losing  working  time 


76  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

and  having  diminished  earnings  through  lost  time,  than 
the  unskilled  and  poorly  paid.  The  trend  in  the  evo- 
lution of  modern  industry  toward  the  employment  of 
a  larger  proportion  of  unskilled  labor,  as  well  as  the 
fact  that  many  industries  have  come  into  existence  be- 
cause of  the  availability  of  a  supply  of  casual  laborers 
and  of  women  and  children  workers  who  are  willing  to 
work  for  less  than  subsistence  wages,  suggests  that 
there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  a  greater  irregu- 
larity of  employment,  unemployment,  and  loss  of  work- 
ing time,  than  ever  before.  It  is  also  important  to 
point  out  that  there  is  always  some  loss  in  working 
time  from  some  known  cause;  unemployment  has  never 
reached  zero  in  any  trade  or  industry  or  occupation  in 
which  a  considerable  number  of  workers  are  employed. 
Even  if  the  demand  for  labor  should  be  so  great  that 
every  regular  worker  would  be  needed,  there  is  the 
"irreducible  minimum"  of  unemployment  because  some 
workers  are  sick  or  disabled  or  prevented  from  working 
their  maximum  time  for  other  reasons.  The  situation 
may  be  depicted  more  accurately  and  clearly  if  some  of 
the  results  of  recent  investigations  and  records  are 
stated  briefly. 

General  Statistics  and  Statements. — Probably  the  most 
extensive  and  representative  data  on  the  loss  in  working 
time  by  wage-workers  in  the  basic  industries  are  afforded 
by  the  reports  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Commission. 
Of  the  27,909  male  workers  18  years  of  age  and  over 
who  were  included  in  the  statistics  of  regularity  of  em- 
ployment,   only    37.1    per    cent,    were    found    to    have 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  77 

worked  12  full-time  months.  Thus,  nearly  two-thirds 
of  them  lost  time  during  the  year.  The  situation  may 
be  exprest  as  follows : 

PER  CENT.  OF  27,909  MALE  WORKERS  IN  PRINCIPAL  INDUSTRIES 
LOSING  WORKING  TIME  DURING  A  YEAR  - 

Full  Time  Months 

OF   Working  Time  Per  cent,  of  27,909 

Lost  by  Workers  male  workers 

9  or  more 2.0 

6  "      "      9.5 

S   "      "      18.0 

4   "      "      20.0 

3   "      "      32.4 

2   "      "      . .     . .  46.8 

1   "      "      56.7 

Some  time  lost       62.9 

No  full  time  lost 37.1 

A  comparison  of  the  Immigration  Commission's  statis- 
tics of  weekly  earnings  with  annual  earnings  is  sug- 
gestive. The  following  tabulations  for  male  and  female 
wage-earners  i8  years  of  age  and  over  present  these 
comparisons : 

PROPORTION   OF   52  TIMES   WEEKLY   RATE   ANNUAL    EARNINGS 

OF  MALE  AND  FEMALE  EMPLOYEES  18  YEARS  OF 

AGE  AND  OVER «» 

I  ^1  i2  11  «^^ 


Srx 

3 

If 

in 
u 

V 

•a 

a 

ercentag( 
earnings 
times 
rate. 

^ 

<; 

t^ 

^ 

< 

P^ 

Males 

220,390 

$12.64 

$657 

26,616 

$475 

72 

Females 

57,712 

7.96 

414 

3,609 

304 

73 

'  *  Practically   all   of  the   data  was  obtained   during  the   year    1909,   and  thus 
covers  a  year  ending  at  various  dates,  according  to  individuals  furnishing  data, 
in  1909.     The  above  tabulation  is  compiled  from  Reports  of  the  U.   S.  Immi- 
gration Commission,  Vol.  20,  p.  453. 
'Silbid.,  Vol.  19.  pp.  111-123. 


78  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

While  the  number  of  women  workers  reporting  annual 
earnings  may  be  too  small  to  be  thoroughly  repre- 
sentative, it  appears  that  the  average  male  worker  lost 
at  least  a  fourth  of  his  annual  earnings.  Translated 
into  working  time,  he  lost  the  equivalent  of  13  weeks' 
earnings,  or  about  three  months. 

'A  more  intimate  glimpse  of  what  lost  time  means  to 
the  workingman  and  his  family  was  afforded  by  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  study  of  24,402  working- 
class  families  in  1901.  This  investigation  showed  that 
in  nearly  half  of  these  families,  the  principal  bread- 
winner lost  working  time  during  the  year.  The  average 
time  lost  by  the  12,154  heads  of  families  reporting  lost 
time  was  9.43  weeks  during  the  year,  or  more  than  two 
months,  or  an  average  of  4.70  weeks  for  the  total 
24,402,^  about  9  per  cent,  of  their  full  time. 

Replies  to  inquiries  made  by  the  New  York  Commis- 
sion on  Employers'  Liability  and  Unemployment  in 
1910,  from  179  labor  union  secretaries  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  indicated  that  in  only  8  per  cent,  of  the 
unions  the  workers  lost  no  time  in  consequence  of  un- 
employment, while  in  25  per  cent,  the  workers  lost  three 
months  or  more  on  the  average  during  the  year.  Tak- 
ing all  trades  represented  in  these  unions  it  was  shown 

'  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
p.  44. 

Similar  data,  altho  for  a  very  much  smaller  number  of  families,  were 
afforded  by  an  intensive  study  by  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of 
Labor  of  152  workingmen's  families  who  were  considered  to  be  above  the 
average  in  economic  status.  These  showed  that  the  heads  of  these  families  lost 
an  average  of  35  working  days,  or  11  per  cent,  of  the  total  possible  working 
time.  (Thirty-second  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics 
of   Labor,   pp.   239-314.) 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  79 

that  organized  workers  lost  on  an  average  20  per  cent, 
of  their  possible  income  through  unemployment.* 

The  situation  among  women  workers  employed  in 
several  important  industries  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
results  of  the  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Com- 
mission's recent  inquiry.  As  summed  up  by  Mrs.  Irene 
Osgood  Andrews,  "at  least  15  per  cent,  should  be 
added  to  any  wage  rate  (for  women)  in  order  to  cover 
losses  from  short  time  work."^  Of  1,500  comparatively 
steadily  employed  women  who  were  interviewed  in  the 
course  of  this  commission's  investigation,®  1,000  had 
lost  on  an  average  one  month  during  the  preceding 
year.  In  the  manufacture  of  shirts,  candy  and  paper 
boxes,  and  in  mercantile  establishments,  in  which  were 

♦Third   Report,    1911,  pp.    2,   8.      The   significance   of  this   average  may   be 

more   clearly   seen   if   it  is   stated   for   groups    of   unions,   as    in   the   following 
table: 

Per  cent,  of  possible  Number    of   unions    in    which 

earnings  lost  by  average  member  lost  earn- 

unemployment  ings  by  unemployment 

Less  than  10  18 

10  to  20  36 

20.1  to  30  IS 

30.1  to  40  36 

40.1  to  SO  21 

SO.l  to  60  10 

Over   60  3 
(Ibid.  p.  54.) 

The  same  report  shows  that,  in  365  trade  unions  for  which  data  was  se- 
cured, two-thirds  of  the  members  worked  the  year  round,  the  remaining  third 
being  unemployed  for  some  period  during  the  year.  The  average  time  lost  for 
all  members  of  the  365  unions  during  the  year  was  1  month  and  25  days  (p. 
162).     The  report  says: 

"While  thera  is  little  accurate  information  available  as  to  the  exact  number 
unemployed  at  any  one  time,  there  is  enough  to  show  that  about  40  per  cent, 
of  our  wage-earners  suffer  some  unemployment  every  year,  that  on  the  average 
they  lose  ten  weeks  each,  and  that  the  loss  in  wages  amounts  to  20  per  cent, 
of  what  the  earnings  would  be  were  employment  steady  throughout  the  year." 
(p.  69.) 

^  Relation  of  Irregular  Employment  to  the  Living  Wage  for  Women,  Fourth 
Report  of  the  N.  Y.  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  1915,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  513. 
^Survey,  Vol.  xxxiii,  p.   507,   Feb.  6,   1915. 


8o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

approximately  150,000  persons  in  more  than  2,000 
establishments  scattered  throughout  the  state,  it  was 
found  that  from  10  per  cent,  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  usual 
working  force  were  added  and  displaced  during  the 
course  of  12  months  for  various  reasons.  In  other 
words,  that  proportion  of  the  employees  was  unemployed 
during  the  year,  in  addition  to  time  lost  during  em- 
ployment. 

The  attempt  of  the  Census  Bureau  in  1900  to  obtain 
statistics  of  the  length  of  unemployment  has  generally 
been  regarded  as  unproductive  of  accurate  results,  but 
at  least  it  has  afforded  corroboration  of  the  indications 
given  by  other  statistics  of  the  seriousness  of  loss  of 
time  as  a  factor  in  determining  the  wage-earner's  eco- 
nomic status.  As  summarized  by  the  census  report, 
"approximately  four  persons  out  of  five  who  claimed 
gainful  occupations  were  continuously  employed  through- 
out the  census  year,  while  the  fifth  person  was  idle  for 
a  period  varying  from  one  to  12  months."' 

Some  light  on  the  total  time  lost  by  organized  workers 
in  a  year  is  thrown  by  the  monthly  unemployment  re- 

'  Twelfth  Census  of  the  United  States,  1900;  Occupations,  p.  ccxxxv.  Ex- 
cluding persons  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  professional  service  and 
domestic  and  personal  pursuits,  the  statistics  for  persons  10  years  of  age  or 
over,  may  be  summarized  briefly  in  the  following  table: 

Per  cent,  unemployed 


„                    ^  1  to  3  4  to  6  7  to  12 

Classes  of  Occupation  ^„„t},s  ^^^^t^s  months 

Males 

Trade   and   transportation 48.4  35.7  15.9 

Manufacturing    and    mechanical    pursuits..  49.7  38.4  11.9 

Females 

Trade   and   transportation      39.3  34.9  25.8 

Manufacturing    and    mechanical    pursuits..  50.0  35.4  14.6 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  8i 

ports  from  representative  unions  in  New  York  State  to 
the  New  York  Department  of  Labor.  These  reports 
show  the  percentages  of  members  idle  on  the  last  day  of 
each  month  for  the  ii  years  from  1904  to  1914.  A 
monthly  mean  percentage  is  thus  a  composite  day  in 
each  year,  the  average  mean  percentage  for  the  1 1  years 
being  22.^  Thus  it  is  indicated  that  the  average  union 
member  lost  out  of  300  possible  working  days  during 
the  average  year  66  working  days,  or  about  two  and  a 
half  months. 

Statistics  for  Specific  Industries. — Statements  of 
time  lost  by  workers  regardless  of  industry,  loca- 
tion, or  other  factors,  like  statements  of  average  wages, 
do  not  depict  real  conditions  in  an  adequate  manner. 
Seasonal  and  other  variations  in  the  regularity  of  em- 
ployment offered,  as  well  as  causes  affecting  the  char- 
acter of  the  demand  for  labor  and  the  employability 
of  workers,  result  in  differences  in  time  lost  among 
groups  of  workers.  In  order  to  understand  the  in- 
tensity of  loss  of  working  time  as  a  factor  in  deter- 
mining the  economic  status  of  the  wage-earner,  it  is 
necessary  to  inquire  into  these  variations  as  far  as  the 
available  data  will  permit. 

Without  taking  up  at  this  point  the  question  of  the 
causes,  but  confining  ourselves  to  a  bare  presentation  of 
the  available  data  showing  the  extent  of  the  loss  of 
time,  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  widest  variations 
appear  to  be  according  to  industry.  When  complete 
statistics  as  to  the  causes  of  loss  in  working  time  are 

•Bulletin  69  of  the  New  York  Department  of  Labor,  p.  5. 


82 


CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 


available,  it  is  possible  that  the  greatest  variations  will 
appear  to  occur  on  a  different  basis.  For  the  present, 
however,  statistics  of  time  lost  are  shown  chiefly  by  in- 
dustries and  trades. 


MONTHS  WORKED   BY  MALES   DURING  THE  YEAR,   16  YEARS   OF 

AGE  OR  OVER,  EMPLOYED  AWAY  FROM  HOME,  BY  GENERAL 

NATIVITY    OF    INDIVIDUAL    AND    BY    INDUSTRY 

(From  the   Reports   of  the  Immigration    Commission,    Vol.    19) 


Industry 


Agricultural  implements  and 
vehicles       

Cigars  and  tobacco 

Clothing  

Coal  mining,  anthracite     . . 

Coal   mining,   bituminous    . . 

Collars  and  cuffs 

Copper  mining  and  smelting 

Cotton  goods         

Furniture 

Glass        

Gloves 

Iron  and  Steel 

Iron  ore  mining 

Leather 

Oil    refining 

Shoes       

Silk  goods      

Slaughtering  and  meat-pack- 
ing        

Sugar    refining      

Woolen   and    worsted    goods 

Diversified  manufactures   . . 

Total        27,909 


Number 

Per  cent. 

working 

A 

reporting 
complete 

12 

months 

9 
months 

6 
months 

3 
months 

or  over 

or  over 

or  over 

683 

42.6 

83.0 

94.1 

98.0 

164 

73.2 

90.9 

97.0 

99.4 

1,135 

37.8 

73.7 

95.4 

98.9 

1,011 

9.0 

76.1 

96.4 

99.3 

3,928 

16.8 

46.9 

88.1 

99.0 

263 

63.5 

92.8 

97.3 

99.2 

718 

93.5 

98.7 

99.9 

99.9 

2,037 

42.9 

79.1 

92.3 

97.9 

446 

54.5 

88.8 

98.0 

99.3 

794 

53.8 

77.7 

90.8 

99.0 

336 

80.4 

92.6 

98.8 

100.0 

4,550 

20.0 

44.1 

75.0 

94.2 

295 

60.3 

83.7 
65.2 

95.6 

99.3 

805 

38.6 

87.1 

96.6 

889 

62.7 

79.6 

97.3 

99.4 

1,162 

29.9 

64.1 

90.9 

98.3 

366 

38.3 

61.7 

91.3 

98.1 

1,447 

54.7 

80.1 

96.8 

99.4 

393 

61.1 

82.4 

96.2 

99.2 

767 

37.3 

67.0 

89.8 

97.7 

5,720 

41.4 

76.4 

95.5 

98.9 

37.1 


67.6 


90.5 


98.0 


Disregarding  the  Census  unemployment  statistics 
prepared  according  to  industry  as  of  too  doubtful  value 
for  purposes  of  comparison,  the  most  comprehensive 
data  by  industries  are  afforded  by  the  reports  of  the 
Immigration  Commission  in  1909  for  about  20  prin- 
cipal industries.     These  statistics  afford  an  illuminating 


IN   "AM  ERIC  AN   INDUSTRIES 


83 


picture  of  the  workers'  loss  of  time  in  the  various  in- 
dustries. In  all  the  20  industries  named,  excepting 
bituminous  coal  mining,  iron  and  steel,  and  leather  man- 
ufacturing, 90  per  cent,  of  the  workers  worked  over  6 


MONTHS    WORKED    DURING   THE    YEAR    BY   FEMALES    16    YEARS 

OF    AGE    OR    OVER    EMPLOYED    AWAY    FROM    HOME,    BY 

GENERAL  NATIVITY  OF  INDIVIDUAL  AND  BY  INDUSTRY 


Number  Per  cent,  working 

Industry  reporting  ^j  9  6 

complete  n^onjjjs  months  months 

or  over  or  over 
Agricultural  implements  and 

vehicles        82  59.8  75.6  92.7 

Cigars  and  tobacco      ....  37  62.2  78.4  94.6 

Clothing         233  55.4  79.0  97.0 

Coal   mining,   anthracite      ..  15  a  a  a 

Coal  mining,   bituminous    ..  51  56.9  66.7,  90.2 

Collars  and  cuffs 134  61.9  92.5  95.5 

Copper  mining  and  smelting  37  81.1  91.9  97.3 

Cotton    goods        753  33.2  75. 3  89.0 

Furniture        88  63.6  89.8  96.6 

Glass        36  47.2  69.4  86.1 

Gloves 74  78.4  90.5  98.6 

Iron  and  steel       134  56.0  71.6  87.3 

Iron  ore  mining 4  o  a  a 

Leather 53  50.9  86.8  100.0 

Oil   refining   ..      57  75.4  86.0  96.5 

Shoes       295  33.9  67.8  91.5 

Silk  goods      67  20.9  52.2  86.6 

Slaughtering  and  meat-pack- 
ing          151  64.2  86.8  96.0 

Sugar  refining      41  87.8  97.6  100.0 

Woolen   and   worsted   goods  293  33.8  64.8  88.4 

Diversified  manufactures   . .  1,375  58.5  86.8  95.4 

Total       4,010  50,6  79.8  93.0 

a  Not  computed,  owing  to  small  number  involved. 


3 

months 
or  over 

90.8 
94.6 

100.0 

a 

98.0 

100.0 

100.0 
96.3 
98.9 
97.2 

100.0 

93.3 

a 

100.0 
98.2 
99.3 
97.0 

99.3 

100.0 

96.6 

98.6 

98.0 


months.  Only  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  all  the 
workers,  however,  worked  steadily  throughout  the  year 
and  wide  variations  according  to  industry  were  evident. 
While  over  90  per  cent,  of  the  workers  in  copper  mining 
and  smelting  were  employed  during  the  12  months,  only 


84  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

9  per  cent,  of  anthracite  coal  miners  were  so  employed. 
Two-thirds  of  the  workers  in  all  the  industries  named 
worked  nine  months  or  more,  but  in  bituminous  coal 
mining,  iron  and  steel,  leather,  shoe,  silk  goods,  and 
woolen  and  worsted  manufacturing,  less  than  two-thirds 
lost  as  little  as  three  months  time  during  the  year.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  these  statistics  show  total  loss 
of  time,  whether  it  be  due  to  irregularity  of  employ- 
ment, disability  or  other  causes. 

In  the  steel  industry  it  has  been  calculated  that  the 
average  worker  loses  at  least  13  per  cent,  of  the  working 
year  through  causes  over  which  he  has  no  control.  This 
calculation  is  based  on  a  special  federal  investigation 
covering  90,757  male  employes  in  1910,  a  prosperous 
year,  and  does  not  allow  for  loss  of  time  resulting  from 
curtailment  or  closing  down  of  plants  because  of  de- 
pressions in  less  prosperous  years.  Out  of  the  52  weeks, 
the  average  steel  worker  lost  at  least  five  during  the 
year.  Only  63  per  cent,  of  the  steel  workers  were 
found  to  have  had  a  maximum  of  44  weeks  of  possible 
employment  in   19 10. 

Some  idea  of  the  minimum  lost  time  in  coal  mining 
may  be  gained  from  statistics  of  days  when  the  mines 
were  in  operation.  These  statistics  do  not  show,  of 
course,  time  lost  from  any  other  causes  than  the  con- 
dition of  the  industry.  Assuming  that  there  are  306 
possible  working  days  in  the  year,  as  a  basis  of  com- 
parison, the  following  table  for  the  principal  coal  mining 
states  and  for  all  bituminous  and  anthracite  mining  in- 
dicates the  average  number  of  days  lost  in  1913: 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  85 

DAYS  LOST  IN  1913  IN  COAL  MINING  DUE  TO  INACTIVITY 

OF  MINES 

(Compiled  from  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  Coal  Production  in  1913,  p.  751.) 

„  „  Average  number  Number  of 

State  and  Group  employed  days  lost 

Bituminous : 

Alabama      24,552  51 

Colorado     11,990  77 

Illinois         79,529  117 

Indiana        22,235  116 

Iowa     15,757  111 

Kansas         12,479  109 

Kentucky     26,332  94 

Missouri      10,418  119 

Ohio      45.815  100 

Oklahoma 9,044  109 

Pennsylvania      172,196  39 

Tennessee 11,263  65 

Virginia       9,162  26 

West  Virginia 74,786  72 

Wyoming 8,331  74 

Pennsylvania  anthracite 175,745  49 

Grand  total  a 747,644  68 

a  Includes  all  States  in  which  coal  is  mined. 

The  above  statistics  afford  an  idea  of  the  differences 
in  time  lost  in  various  states.  In  Illinois,  Indiana  and 
Missouri  the  time  lost  because  of  the  inactivity  of  mines 
was  nearly  three  months,  whereas  in  the  Pennsylvania 
bituminous  mines  it  was  about  a  month  and  a  half,  and 
in  Virginia  about  a  month.  Bituminous  coal  miners  in 
the  United  States  on  an  average  could  not  work  over 
nine  months  in  the  year,  and  anthracite  miners  ten 
months.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  19 13 
was  a  record  year  for  anthracite  workers  and  was  ex- 
ceeded by  bituminous  miners  since  1890  in  only  three 
years — 1899,  1900  and  1907.^ 

»  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  Coal  Production,  1913,  Part  II.,  p.  750. 


86  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

The  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Commission 
found  that  loss  of  time  was  suffered  by  employees  in 
practically  all  industries,  occupations  and  plants.  This 
was  especially  true  in  the  lower  wage  levels.  Thus, 
workers  receiving  low  rates  of  pay  lost,  as  a  general 
rule,  more  time  than  workers  receiving  rates  above  the 
average.  Dr.  Howard  B.  Woolston,  the  director  of 
investigation  for  the  Commission,  in  a  summary  of  the 
results  of  the  study,^^  gives  the  following  instances : 

"In  mercantile  establishments,  only  99  persons  were 
quoted  at  rates  under  $3  a  week,  but  in  a  typical  week 
selected  2,040  persons  actually  received  less  than  this 
amount.  In  the  confectionery  industry,  13  per  cent,  of 
the  workers  for  whom  rates  were  given  were  engaged 
at  less  than  $5 ;  but  22.5  per  cent,  failed  to  find  so  much 
in  their  pay  envelopes  in  a  given  week.  Of  15,000 
female  factory  workers  in  New  York  City,  nearly 
8,000  received  less  than  $6.50  during  a  busy  week  last 
winter,  and  4,000  got  less  than  $5.  Out  of  42,000 
persons  of  both  sexes  employed  in  all  lines  (including 
900  adult  men  and  12,500  women  over  18  years  old), 
more  than  half  were  paid  less  than  $8.  About  12,000 
of  these  low-paid  workers  had  more  than  one  year  of 
experience  in  the  trade,  and  10,000  were  in  occupa- 
tions demanding  some  skill  and  responsibility  in  the 
making  or  selling  of  goods.  The  simplest  explanation 
for  this  difference  between  expectations  and  receipts  is 
that  many  persons  did  not  work  full  time.  It  was 
actually  found  that  nearly  20  per  cent,  of  all  those  em- 

^^  The  Survey,  Vol.  xxxiii,  pp.  505-511. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  87 

ployed  lost  one  day  or  more  during  the  week  recorded. 
The  men  and  boys  averaged  5.8  work-days,  the  women 
and  girls  5.6." 

FLUCTUATION  OF  EMPLOYMENT  AMONG  14,325  WOMEN  WORKERS 
IN  MASSACHUSETTS  CANDY,  CORSET  AND  BRUSH  FACTORIES 
AND  LAUNDRIES  AND  DEPARTMENT  STORES. 

(Compiled    from    First    and    Second    Annual    Reports    of    the    Massachusetts 
Minimum    Wage    Commission.) 

Per  cent,  of  workers  employed: 


m  C 

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1 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

2 

76.0 

77.1 

90.1 

99.7 

100.0 

3 

63.1 

66.4 

84.4 

99.7 

100.0 

4 

53.0 

57.6 

79.1 

99.2 

99.7 

5 

44.7 

49.1 

74.0 

96.7 

99.5 

6 

39.6 

45.7 

70.6 

95.6 

99.2 

7 

35.2 

40.9 

67.3 

94.8 

98.5 

8 

31.4 

36.2 

62.7 

93.7 

97.2 

9 

29.4 

33.0 

58.7 

92.0 

96.2 

10 

26.4 

30.2 

53.9 

89.6 

94.6 

11 

21.8 

25.9 

44.5 

77.0 

85.7 

12 

2.6 

9.4 

19.7 

25.7 

52.7 

Of  4,ooo  women  employed  in  the  millinery  shops  in 
the  State  of  New  York  that  were  investigated,  only  no 
were  on  the  pay-roll  in  one  shop  for  the  full  52  weeks. 
Examinations  of  the  pay-rolls  showed  that  in  the  entire 
year  there  were  only  11  weeks  in  which  the  force  em- 
ployed did  not  fall  10  per  cent,  or  more  below  the  maxi- 
mum, and  only  25  weeks  in  which  it  did  not  fall  below  the 
maximum  by  25  per  cent,  or  more.    For  large  numbers 


88  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  milliners,   employment   for   only  six  months   in   the 
year  in  their  trade  is  the  ordinary  expectation.^^ 

The  Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage  Commission  has 
published  statistics  showing  the  percentages  of  workers 
employed  for  specified  numbers  of  months  during  a  year 
in  representative  candy  factories,  corset  factories,  laun- 
dries and  department  stores  in  that  state.  Stated  in 
terms  of  the  loss  of  time,  over  60  per  cent,  of  the  con- 
fectionery workers,  about  55  per  cent,  of  the  laundry 
workers,  nearly  30  per  cent,  of  the  department  store 
workers,  but  less  than  5  per  cent,  of  corset  and  brush 
makers,  lost  six  months  of  working  time.  Nearly  70  per 
cent,  of  confectionery  workers,  66  per  cent,  of  laundry 
workers,  over  41  per  cent,  of  department  store  workers, 
and  less  than  4  per  cent,  of  brush  makers,  lost  three 
months  of  their  working  time.  A  small  proportion  of 
them  worked  steadily  throughout  the  year.  The  wide 
difference  in  the  lost  time  between  workers  in  candy 
factories,  laundries  and  department  stores  on  the  one 
hand,  and  workers  in  corset  and  brush  factories,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  probably  due  in  large  measure  to  the 
adoption  of  a  different  method  of  presenting  statistics. 
In  the  former  case,  the  wage  records  of  all  of  the  em- 
ployees, except  those  working  less  than  four  weeks, 
were  included;  in  the  latter  case,  the  wage  records  of 
only  those  whose  payments  extended  over  a  period  of 
eleven  months  or  more  previous  to  the  taking  of  the 
transcript   of   the   pay-roll   were   included.      Hence,   in 

"  H.  B.  Woolston — Wages  in  New  York.  The  Survey,  February  6,  1915, 
pp.  507-508,  quoting  results  of  investigation  by  Committee  on  Woman's  Work 
of  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  89 

corset  and  brush  factories  lost  time  for  a  selected 
group  consisting  of  the  steadiest  workers  is  shown, 
and  practically  all  of  those  who,  for  any  one  of  a 
variety  of  reasons,  may  have  left  the  industry  are 
eliminated.  In  the  candy  factories,  laundries  and  de- 
partment stores,  of  course,  "it  is  not  clear  that  the 
amount  of  absence  shown  may  be  called  strictly  unem- 
ployment," as  the  Commission  points  out,^^  nor  do  the 
statistics  take  into  any  account  any  other  work  those 
absent  from  the  pay-roll  may  have  done.  But  giving 
full  weight  to  voluntary  withdrawals  of  workers,  the 
statistics  do  indicate  that  the  loss  of  time  by  workers  in 
the  three  industries  named  is  extremely  large  and  that, 
for  one  reason  or  another,  the  necessity  was  created  for 
a  large  proportion  of  the  workers  either  to  get  employ- 
ment elsewhere  in  order  to  sell  their  labor  continuously 
throughout  the  year  or  to  remain  idle. 

Another  illustration  of  the  amount  of  time  lost  by 
women  workers  is  given  by  the  results  of  a  recent  in- 
vestigation into  working  conditions  in  Indiana  mer- 
cantile establishments  and  garment  factories  which  was 
made  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  in  co- 
operation with  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial 
Relations  and  the  Indiana  Commission  of  Working 
Women.  Over  69  per  cent,  of  the  women  employed  in 
mercantile  establishments  in  Indianapolis,  Terre  Haute, 
Evans ville,  Fort  Wayne,  South  Bend  and  Lafayette  re- 
ported loss  of  time.     This  loss  of  time  averaged  13.9 

"  second  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage  Commission, 
p.  73. 


90  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

per  cent,  of  the  weeks  of  possible  work  for  those  unem- 
ployed. Over  87  per  cent,  of  the  women  employed  in 
garment  factories  in  all  of  the  same  cities  named  above, 
with  the  exception  of  Lafayette,  reported  lost  time 
which  averaged  15.1  per  cent,  of  the  possible  weeks  of 
work.^^ 

The  above  statistics  indicate  roughly  the  seriousness 
of  lost  working  time  measured  in  weeks  or  months. 
They  do  not  tell  the  complete  story,  however.  Even 
within  periods  of  weeks,  lost  time  is  a  serious  factor. 
Some  idea  of  the  loss  of  time  by  workers  even  when 
regularly  employed  is  suggested  in  certain  industries  by 
the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners'  report.  This  report  presented  statistics  based 
on  the  study  of  pay-rolls  for  a  representative  week,  and 
showed  that  workers  in  cotton  mills  in  New  England 
lost  from  13  to  20  per  cent,  of  their  full  pay  time  and  in 
Southern  mills  from  20  to  24  per  cent.,  not  including 
doffers,  who  lost  60  per  cent.  Statistics  of  loss  of  time 
during  a  representative  week,  as  shown  by  the  same 
investigation,  may  be  summarized  thus  for  broad  silk, 
silk  ribbon  and  throwing  mills  •}* 

It  was  found  that  women  workers  in  the  men's  cloth- 

'*  Hours,  Earnings  and  Conditions  of  Labor  of  Women  in  Indiana  Mer- 
cantile Establishments  and  Garment  Factories,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
Bulletin  No.   160,   1914. 

"  Woman  and   Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.   iv,   p.   140. 

Per  cent,  of  full  time  lost 


Sex  and  Ace  Groups 

New  Jersey 

mills 

Pennsylvania  mil/ 

Males,  16  years  and  over  . . 

5.6 

17.6 

Females,  16  years  and  over    . 

8.5 

22.7 

Males  under  16  years      . .     . 

12.7 

14.7 

Females  under  16  years  . .     . . 

9.5 

142 

IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  91 

ing  industry  in  New  York,  Chicago,  Rochester  and 
Philadelphia  lost  from  10  to  13  per  cent.,  and  in  Balti- 
more 20  per  cent.,  of  their  full  time  in  a  representative 
week.  The  Connecticut  State  report  shows  that  in 
cotton  mills  women  workers  lost  12.3  per  cent.,  in  silk 
mills,  15.5  per  cent.,  and  in  metal  trades,  12.3  per  cent, 
of  their  full  time  earnings  in  a  representative  week.^^ 

Miss  Van  Kleek  in  a  study  of  artificial  flower  makers 
in  New  York  City  concluded  that  "the  tax  made  by 
irregular  employment  on  the  income  of  flower  makers 
amounts  to  about  two  dollars  a  week — a  sum  by  no 
means  insignificant."^^  In  her  story  of  women  in  book 
binding,  she  states  that  even  allowing  for  income  de- 
rived from  other  occupations  during  unemployed  periods, 
the  loss  from  unemployment  is  more  than  $50  in  12 
months.  Twice  she  found  the  average  income  of  a 
bindery  girl,  from  all  occupations,  to  be  about  $300, 
the  loss  of  time  approximating  two  months.  "This," 
says  Miss  Van  Kleek,  "is  not  a  small  loss  when  the 
fact  is  realized  that  very  few  bindery  girls  earn  $500 
or  more  in  a  year."^^ 

The  recent  investigation  for  the  wage  scale  board  of 
the  dress  and  waist  industry  in  New  York  City,  con- 
ducted in  1912  by  Mr.  N.  I.  Stone,  afforded  some 
illuminating  data.  The  fact  that  statistics  of  employ- 
ment do  not  fully  indicate  loss  of  time,  as  exprest  in 
earnings,  is  clearly  shown,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  there 

«  Quoted  by  C.  E.  Persons — Women's  Work  and  Wages,  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Economics,  February,   1915,  p.  210. 

"  Artificial  Flower  Makers,  p.  72. 

"  Women  in  the  Book  Binding  Trade,  p.  86. 


92  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

is  a  great  loss  of  earnings  through  loss  of  time.  There 
were  employed  in  the  260  shops,  whose  pay-rolls  were 
studied,  a  maximum  of  20,524  people.  The  average 
employment  throughout  the  year  was  83.3  per  cent. ; 
that  is,  if  the  maximum  number  employed  in  any 
week  (20,524)  had  been  given  an  equal  chance  they 
would  have  had  employment  83.3  per  cent,  of  the  year, 
or  over  43  weeks.  "That  does  not  mean,  however," 
says  the  report,  "that  they  would  be  fully  employed 
those  weeks;  it  means  merely  that  they  would  be  on 
the  pay-roll  for  that  length  of  time,  but  the  actual 
amount  of  work  they  would  have  an  opportunity  of 
doing  is  shown  by  the  average  annual  wage  percentage, 
which  was  73  per  cent.  This  percentage  is  based  on  the 
wages  actually  paid  out  from  week  to  week  and  is 
necessarily  smaller  than  the  percentage  of  people  em- 
ployed because  workers,  especially  those  paid  by  the 
piece,  may  be  on  the  pay-roll  for  a  week,  but  be  paid 
only  for  the  work  actually  done  by  them,  which  may 
last  only  a  few  hours  each  day  or  a  few  hours  for  the 
entire  week,  especially  when  work  is  not  plentiful."*® 
There  is  a  tendency  to  keep  as  many  workers  on  the  pay- 
roll as  possible  in  dull  seasons  in  order  to  maintain  the 
shop  organization. 

The  variations  in  loss  of  working  time  according  to 
industry  and  trade  are  also  suggested  in  the  statistics 
of  unemployment  among  organized  workers  published 
by   the   state   labor   bureaus   and   d-epartments   of   New 

"  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin,  No.  146 — Wages  and 
Regularity  of  Employment  and  Standardization  of  Piece  Rates  in  the  Dress 
and  Waist  Industry,  New  York  City,  p.  161. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  93 

York  and  Massachusetts,  These  statistics  are  not  in 
the  form  of  days  lost  from  work,  but  indicate  the  pro- 
portion of  union  members  idle  on  specified  days  in  each 
year.  They  appear  to  corroborate  the  variations  shown 
in  the  data  already  referred  to.  For  example,  the  five- 
year  average  for  1910-1914  of  the  mean  monthly  per- 
centage of  idleness  in  representative  trade  unions  in 
certain  industries  in  New  York  State  was  as  follows  :^^ 

Building  and  stone  working,  etc 28.2 

Transportation      11.1 

Clothing  and  textiles        33.1 

Metals,  machinery,  etc 16.7 

Printing,  binding,  etc 6.7 

Woodworking  and  furniture 20.3 

Food  and  liquors        10.8 

Theaters  and  music 16.2 

Tobacco         14.3 

Restaurants,  trade,  etc 7.1 

Public  employment 1.0 

Stationary  engine  tending       2.0 

Computing  the  mean  or  average  time  lost  on  a  basis 
of  300  possible  working  days  during  the  year,  it  appears 
that  in  the  building  and  stone  working  industry  the 
average  worker  lost  approximately  85  working  days, 
and  the  clothing  and  textile  worker  100  days,  as  con- 
trasted with  less  than  21  days  for  the  worker  in  print- 
ing and  binding,  restaurants,  trade,  public  employment 
and  stationary  engineer  tending. 

Statistics  for  Specific  Trades  and  Occupations — 
Variations  in  loss  of  working  time  occur  not  only  ac- 
cording to  industry,  but  also  according  to  trades  and 
according  to  occupations  within  industries.     The  statis- 

'»  Compiled  from  Bulletin  No.  69  of  the  New  York  Department  of  Labor. 


94  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

tical  data  on  these  points  are  meager,  but  there  are 
enough  at  least  to  indicate  the  presence  of  the  condition 
and  to  emphasize  its  grave  import. 

An  illustration  of  this  condition  among  the  different 
trades  is  given  in  statistics  for  365  trade  unions  in  the 
state  of  New  York  for  19 10,  as  presented  by  the  New 
York  Commission  on  Employers'  Liability  and  Unem- 
ployment. The  statistics  are  based  on  replies  received 
in  response  to  inquiries  sent  to  unions  and  are  doubt- 
less, in  some  instances,  inexact  estimates.  They  are 
sufficient,  however,  to  show  in  an  approximate  manner 
the  amount  of  lost  working  time  which  even  the  organ- 
ized, and  in  most  instances,  highly  paid  worker,  suf- 
fers.^**     (See  table  on  p.  96.) 

Interpreted  in  terms  of  lost  earnings,^"*  these  statistics 
of  loss  of  working  time  show  that  the  trades  which 
suffered  the  greatest  loss  are  the  masons  and  brick- 
layers, pavers  and  rammer  men,  millwrights  and  stage 
hands,  who  were  able  to  earn  only  from  50  to  60  per 
cent,  of  what  they  could  have  earned  if  they  could  have 
worked  steadily  throughout  the  year.  Longshoremen, 
building  laborers,  and  marine  transport  workers  were 
able  to  earn  from  60  to  70  per  cent."' 

In  the  building  trades,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
union  witnesses  at  the  1914  hearing  of  the  Commission 
on  Industrial  Relations,  bricklayers  work  about  60  per 
cent,  of  the  working  time  in  a  normal  year,  but  in  1913 

»» Third  Report  of  the  New  York  Coraraission  on  Employers'  Liability  and 
Unemployment,  1911,  p.   162. 
'"•/bid.,  p.   54. 
»  The  following  tabulation  classifies  the  workers  in  the  various  trades  and 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


95 


they  worked  about  40  per  cent. ;  steamfitters  in  a 
normal  year  lose  little  time,  but  in  1913  and  1914  half 
of  the  trade  was  idle,  most  of  the  plumbers  work  about 
six  months  of  a  year;  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  sheet 
metal  workers  work  steadily  the  year  round,  the  other 
50  per  cent,  losing  from  6  to  10  months  time;  car- 
penters lose  on  an  average  two  months  in  a  normal 
year,  and  the  same  condition  prevails  among  tile  layers."^ 
Not  only  are  there  variations  in  the  loss  of  time  ac- 
cording to  industry  and  trades,  but  variations  occur  in 
departments  and  in  occupations  in  the  same  industry. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustry, for  example,  there  are  wide  variations  as  to 
operating  time   in   the   different   mills   or   departments. 

industries  according  to  loss  of  earnings  due  to  loss  of  working  time: 

TRADES  IN  WHICH  THE  PERCENTAGE  OF  ACTUAL  TO  POSSIBLE 
EARNINGS  WAS 


Over  90  per  cent. 
Barbers 
Retail  clerks 
Vehicle  Workers 
Railway  employees 
Stationary  engineers  and  firemen 
Blacksmiths  and  boilermakers 
Hotel  and  restaurant  employees 
From  80  to  90  per  cent. 
Tobacco 

Municipal  employees 
Metal  workers 
Glass  workers 
Printers 

Brewery  workers 
Woodworkers 
Molders 


From  70  to  80  per  cent. 
Painters,   decorators  and  paperhang- 

ers 
Clothing  and  textiles 
Carpenters  and  joiners 
Teamsters 
Stonecutters 
Cement  workers 
Electrical  Workers 

From  60  to  70  per  cent. 
Longshoremen 
Building  laborers 
Marine  workers 

From   50  to  60  per  cent. 
Masons  and  bricklayers 
Stage-hands 
Pavers  and  rammerraen 
Millwrights 


'  Hearings  on  Building  Trades  of  New  York  City. 


96 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


PER    CENT.    OF    MEMBERS    OF   TRADE    UNIONS    WHO    WORK    THE 
YEAR   ROUND,   AND  THE   AVERAGE  TIME    LOST   BY   MEMBERS 


Trade 


Railroad  and  railway  employees 

Metal   workers      

Painters,  decorators  and  paper- 
hangers      

Glass   workers      

Butchers        

Engineers  and  firemen  (station- 
ary)      

Plumbers,  steam  and  gas  fitters 

Clothing  and  textiles 

Letter  carriers  and  postofiice 
clerks  

Carpenters  and  joiners 

Longshoremen      

Teamsters  and  drivers 

Stone   workers 

Printing  and  bookbinding 

Cement  workers 

Boilermakers  and  blacksmiths.. 

Brewery  workmen       

Bakers  and  confectioners  . . 

Building  employees  (miscella- 
neous)         

Masons  and  bricklayers 

Wood-workers      

Stage-hands  

Molders  

Vehicle-workers 

Tobacco-workers  

Machinists      

Barbers  

Pavers,  rammermen,  etc 

Marine-workers 

Electrical-workers        

Millwrights 

Hotel  and  restaurant  employees 

Musicians      

Retsil   clerks         

Miscellaneous  and  unclassified. . 

Total      


n 

C 
o 

"Si 
B  S 

Per  cent,  of  membe 
working  year  rou 
(Averages) 

o 

'Z  2 
1^ 

if 

CO    C 

< 

44 

92.0 

3  weeks 

21 

73.9 

1J4  months 

18 

29.3 

3^  months 

4 

40.5 

3   1-3  months 

4 

91.0 

2  months 

9 

96.6 

6  days 

10 

70.0 

2  months 

18 

38.6 

3  months 

21 

100.0 

None 

31 

60.5 

2%   months 

3 

41.3 

2  1-3  months 

4 

75.7 

1/2   month 

3 

36.6 

3  months 

24 

86.5 

25  days 

4 

47.5 

3  months 

6 

80.0 

yi   month 

8 
6 

97.0 
86.0 

^  month 
20  days 

8 

24.0 

314  months 

17 

16.0 

5  months 

5 

65.4 

iyi  months 

3 

33.3 

4  months 

S 

57.4 

1}^   months 

4 

100.0 

5  days 

12 

63.5 

11-3  months 

6 

93.3 

10  days 

10 

97.3 

4  days 

3 

6  months 

7 

43.5 

4  months 

2 

87.0 

None 

2 

57.5 

3K   months 

4 

67.2 

lyi   months 

4 

25.7 

4yi   months 

3 

100.0 

None 

32 

66.5 

1  2-3  months 

365 


66.6 


1  month,  25  days 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  97 

In  one  plant,  according  to  the  Federal  Report  on  Con- 
ditions of  Labor  in  the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  one 
rolling  mill  unit  operated  18.5  weeks  in  a  year  while 
another  operated  38.  i  weeks  during  the  year.  In  another 
plant  one  rolling  mill  unit  operated  23  weeks  and  another 
45.9  weeks.  The  following  table  from  the  report  shows 
for  each  of  the  five  principal  departments  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  employees  according  to  the  number  of  weeks 
their  respective  plant  units  operated  in  1910:  ^^ 

CLASSIFIED  NUMBER   OF  WEEKS   DURING  WHICH   DEPARTMENTS 

OF    STEEL    PLANTS   OPERATED    IN    1910,   AND   PER    CENT. 

OF    EMPLOYEES    AFFECTED— ALL    DISTRICTS" 

Per.  cent,  of  employees  according  to  operating  time  in 


u 

.c 

J£  "« 

;= 

Classified  Number  of 
Weeks   in   Operation 

C 

u 

3 

ca 

1^ 

E  o 

<U    <J 

S    3 

60  J3     ■ 

.5  ii 

=32 

'i 

bo-O 

n  c 

rt 

n 

m 

o 

a 

« 

< 

Weeks 

Under  20 

2.0 

0.2 

o.s 

1.7 

1.2 

20  and  under  24     . . 

3.1 

3^3 

1.9 

2.7, 

0.7 

2.3 

24  and  under  28     .. 

1.2 

3.6 

1.6 

2.1 

2.4 

1.9 

28  and  under  32     .. 

3.3 

3.0 

1.0 

3.4 

2.5 

32  and  under  36     .. 

2.5 

6.7 

2.7 

s.o 

8.3 

4.6 

36  and  under  40     . . 

8.8 

9.2 

2.6 

10.6 

14.3 

9.4 

40  and  under  44 

17.3 

11.5 

1.7 

18.4 

18.2 

15.0 

44  and  under  48     . . 

18.0 

17.2 

29.7 

31.3 

29.6 

25.4 

48  and  over     . . 

43.9 

48.4 

56.7 

28.2 

21.2 

37.6 

Number  of  employees 

30,537 

5,510 

13,887 

22.552 

18,271 

90,757 

The  variation  in  lost  time  according  to  occupations 
within  certain  industries  was  also  shown  by  the  reports 
of  the  Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage  Commission.  In 
corset  factories,  for  example,  over  53  per  cent,  of 
workers   were    found   to   have   been   employed    steadily 

2«  Conditions  of  Employment,  Iron  &  Steel  Ind.,  Vol.  iii,  pp.  212-13. 
='  Tlie  detailed  tables  of  which  this  is  a  summary  are  shown  in  Appendix  i, 
p     548,  of  this  report. 


98  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

throughout  the  year  at  ironing,  while  only  11.8  per  cent, 
of  the  menders  and  14.3  per  cent,  of  the  flossers  were 
steadily  employed.^^  In  brush  factories,  61.6  per  cent, 
of  finishers  were  employed  throughout  the  year  as  con- 
trasted with  43.1  per  cent,  of  those  engaged  in  setting, 
and  only  16.7  per  cent,  in  soldering.^^  In  these  two  in- 
dustries, it  has  already  been  noted,  employment  data 
were  obtained  only  for  those  whose  names  were  on  the 
pay-roll  during  the  12  months.  In  candy  factories, 
where  all  of  the  workers  were  included,  over  one-tenth 
of  the  nut  sorters  worked  12  months,  as  contrasted  with 
less  than  i  per  cent,  of  the  machine  tenders  and  about 
I  per  cent,  of  dippers.^"  In  laundries,  about  3  per  cent, 
of  all  workers  engaged  in  shaking  and  7.3  per  cent,  in 
collar  ironing  and  finishing  worked  throughout  the  12 
months,  while  20  per  cent,  of  those  engaged  in  sewing 
and  mending,  22.2  per  cent,  in  bosom  press  operating, 
and  23.5  per  cent,  in  hand  washing  were  steadily  em- 
ployed throughout  the  year.^^  The  same  character  of 
statistics  for  6,449  department  store  "regulars"  {i.e.,  ex- 
clusive of  the  additional  force  employed  before  Christmas 
and  Easter  and  in  other  busy  times),  is  of  particular 
interest.  Pay-rolls  of  twenty-two  department  stores, 
chiefly  the  large  establishments  in  Boston,  and  exclusive 
of  five-  and  ten-cent  stores,  were  covered  in  the  Mini- 
mum Wage  Commission's  report.  The  following  table 
shows  the  fluctuation  in  employment  by  occupations: 

^  First  Annual  Report,  p.  56. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  34. 

'"  Second  Annual  Report,  p.  49. 
»'  Ibid.,  p.  82. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  99 

FLUCTUATION   OF  EMPLOYMENT  AMONG  6,449   "REGULAR" 

WORKERS   IN   MASSACHUSETTS    DEPARTMENT 

STORES,  BY  OCCUPATIONS  32 

Per  cent,  of  workers  employed  for — 

Occupation  ^ ^ ^ 

12  months     9  months     6  months 

Saleswomen        18.0  61.8  73.4 

Office  employees 39.3  702  78.6 

Counter  cashiers  and  examiners  . .     ..  15.3  41.8  57.3 

Messengers  and  bundlers      8.1  31.7  48.9 

Alteration  workroom      5.9  65.6  75.7 

Millinery  workroom        3.6  35.9  52.1 

Stock  girls 14.5  43.6  58.2 

In  the  dress  and  waist  industry  in  New  York  City 
it  was  found  that  a  greater  amount  of  time  was  lost  by 
piece-workers  than  by  week-workers,  altho  the  average 
percentage  of  employment  was  practically  the  same.  In 
four  representative  shops,  two  manufacturing  low-grade 
($9  per  dozen)  waists  and  two  medium  grade  ($16.50 
to  $36  per  dozen)  waists,  the  following  condition  was 
found  to  prevail: 

Per  cent,  average  weekly  wage 
is  of  highest  weekly  wage 

Grade  of  Shop  /■ ■*• ■< 

Week-workers  Piece-workers 

$9  grade  shop      71  68 

Medium  grade  shop 77  62 

This  condition  prevailed  in  shops  where  both  piece- 
and  time-workers  are  employed  and  which  are  known  as 
piece-work  shops.  In  shops  where  time-work  prevails, 
the  differences  in  the  employment  and  loss  of  wages  by 
the  two  classes  of  workers  are  much  more  pronounced, 
the  tendency  being  to  retain  only  the  best  workers  dur- 

^2  Compiled  from  Second  Annual  Report  of  Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage 
Commission,  p.  134.  The  statistics  exclude  all  employees  employed  for  less 
than  a  month  during  the  year. 


loo  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ing  the  slack  season  and  to  drop  or  to  take  on  other 
workers  as  the  trade  demands.^^ 

The  Extent  of  Unemployment 

Not  until  within  recent  years  has  the  seriousness  of 
the  problem  of  unemployment  been  comprehended 
sufficiently  to  create  a  demand  for  some  actual  measure 
of  the  number  of  unemployed  workers  at  any  given  time 
or  during  any  period  in  the  nation  as  a  whole,  or  in  a 
state,  an  industry  or  trade.  Gradually,  in  response  to 
this  need  for  basic  facts,  an  appreciable  amount  of  data 
is  being  accumulated.  Thus  far  the  process  of  collect- 
ing this  information  has  been  so  unorganized,  so  varied 
in  its  methods  and  scope,  and  so  uncertain  as  to  the  time 
and  the  extent  of  its  collection,  that  there  is  yet  no 
statistical  basis  for  even  a  very  rough  estimate  of  the  ex- 
tent of  unemployment  in  the  United  States.  All  students 
of  the  problem  of  unemployment  have  early  discovered 
themselves  to  be  in  the  same  situation  as  the  British 
Royal  Commission  on  the  Poor  Laws,  which,  by  the 
way,  had  far  more  elaborate  sources  of  information 
available  than  exist  in  this  country.  The  Commission 
said: 

"We  have  found  ourselves  unable  to  answer  two 
elementary  questions.  There  are  no  statistics  available 
which  enable  us  to  compute,  even  within  hundreds  of 
thousands,  how  many  persons  are  at  any  one  time 
simultaneously  in  distress  from  unemployment,  or 
whether  this  number  is  or  is  not  greater,  relatively  or 

«»  Wages  and  Regularity  of  Employment  in  the  Dress  and  Waist  Industry, 
New  York;   U.   S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,   Bulletin    No.    146,   pp.    174-176. 


IN  AMERICAN  INDUSTRIES  loi 

absolutely,  than  the  corresponding  numbers  for  other 
countries  at  the  present  time,  or  for  our  own  countries 
at  previous  times."^* 

The  actual  number  of  unemployed  persons  at  any 
given  time  or  place  is  a  matter  of  less  importance  in 
considering  the  problem  of  unemployment,  than  is  the 
interpretation  of  the  problem  in  terms  of  working  time 
lost  by  workers,  its  effect  upon  the  workers,  or  its  eco- 
nomic and  social  causes.  It  is  important,  however,  in 
this  respect,  that  the  magnitude  of  the  problem  should 
be  indicated  in  a  numerical  manner.  Not  only  is  it 
necessary  to  know  how  many  are  unemployed  in  order 
to  know  what  measure  of  relief  is  needed  to  keep  them 
from  physical  suffering  and  actual  starvation,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  have  some  means  of  measuring  the  maxi- 
mum supply  of  labor  for  which  there  appears  to  be  no 
demand,  or,  if  there  be  a  demand,  of  indicating  the 
inadequacy  of  existing  methods  of  equalizing  demand 
and  supply,  of  "bringing  the  man  and  the  job  together.** 
Again,  statistics  of  unemployed  persons  are  valuable — 
even  necessary — as  a  means  of  impressing  upon  the 
student,  the  legislator,  and  the  public  generally  the 
sheer  magnitude  of  the  fact  of  unemployment  as  a 
social  problem. 

Altho  almost  yearly  there  appear  accounts  in  the  press 
of  multitudes  out  of  work,  exact  information  as  to  the 
amount  of  unemployment  is  lacking.  For,  it  is  safe  to 
say,  the  actual  number  out  of  work  at  any  time — even 
in  periods  of  normal  activity — is  much  greater  than  is 

•*  Minority  Report,  p.   570. 


I02  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

ordinarily  supposed.  Tlie  average  well-to-do  citizen  is 
scarcely  aware  of  the  existence  of  this  problem  of  indus- 
try, and  his  attention  is  rarely  called  to  it  except  in  times 
of  unusual  depression  by  the  appeal  of  the  seedy-looking 
individual  on  the  street  or  by  the  demands  made  upon 
his  purse  by  agents  of  charitable  and  religious  organiza- 
tions. There  is  an  urgent  necessity  for  more  complete 
and  more  exact  data,  not  alone  for  the  purpose  of  know- 
ing what  the  situation  is  in  order  to  discover  adequate 
remedies,  but  also  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  public 
attention  to  the  existence  of  the  problem  itself. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  unemployment  is  sug- 
gested, however,  by  statistics  that  have  been  obtained  in 
this  country  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 
The  results  of  the  Bureau's  investigation  into  the  amount 
of  unemployment  in  New  York  City  in  February,  19 15, 
appeared  to  indicate  an  estimate  of  the  total  number  of 
unemployed  at  that  time  of  approximately  338,000.  It 
closely  corroborated  an  investigation  two  months  earlier 
by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Lisurance  Company  which  in- 
dicated that  something  like  420,000  were  out  of  em- 
ployment. These  figures  represented  an  abnormal  situa- 
tion because  they  were  obtained  in  a  period  of  industrial 
depression.^^  The  report  of  the  mayor's  committee  on 
unemployment  in  New  York  City  estimated  that  there 
were  200,000  more  unemployed  in  December,  19 14, 
than  in  the  corresponding  month   in   1913.     It  should 

**  A  later  investigation  conducted  on  the  same  plan  and  in  the  same  area 
by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  indicated  that  the  number  of  unemployed 
in  September,  191S,  was  164,500.  In  September  the  seasonal  demand  for  labor 
was  much  greater  and  was  augmented  by  a  greater  industrial  activity. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  103 

also  be  remembered  that  there  is  a  tendency  for  those 
out  of  work  to  flock  from  smaller  localities  to  the  larger 
cities;  many  deliberately  relinquish  positions  in  small 
towns  and  cities  in  the  hope  of  bettering  themselves 
financially  and  in  order  to  satisfy  cravings  for  a 
"livelier"  manner  of  living.  Satistics  of  unemployed 
persons  in  large  cities,  especially  New  York,  must  be 
considered  with  this  well-known  fact  in  mind. 

The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  unemployment  inquiry 
in  New  York  was  followed  by  similar  investigations  in 
2y  other  cities  in  1915.^®  The  results  of  these  inquiries 
are  summarized  in  the  tabulation  on  p.  104. 

In  the  436,418  families  visited,  693,691  wage-earners 
were  found.  Of  this  number  80,173,  or  11.6  per  cent, 
of  all  wage-earners  in  the  families  visited,  were  wholly 
unemployed,  and  in  addition  thereto  116,623  part-time 
workers,  or  16.8  per  cent.,  were  reported  as  unemployed. 
The  highest  percentages  of  unemployment  were  found  in 
Duluth,  Minnesota,  and  Portland,  Oregon,  where  ap- 
proximately 20  per  cent,  of  the  wage-earners  were  out 
of  work.  The  lowest  percentages  of  unemployment 
were  found  in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  and  Ogden, 
Utah,  where  less  than  5  per  cent,  were  unemployed. 
Among  cities  showing  the  highest  percentages  of  part- 
time  workers  were  Wilkes-Barre,  32.3  per  cent. ;  Pitts- 
burgh, 29  per  cent. ;  Milwaukee,  28.9  per  cent. ;  Bridge- 
port, 19.9  per  cent. ;  Philadelphia,  19.6  per  cent. ;  Duluth, 

3«  These  investigations  were  made  for  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  by 
agents  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  who  visited  the  homes 
of  wage-earners  where  policyholders  live'- 


104 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


UNEMPLOYMENT  IN  27  CITIES  AS  SHOWN  BY  INVESTIGATION 
DURING  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  AND  IN  JUNE  AND  JULY.  1915  " 


'Et3 

Se 

Unemployed 

Part-time 

wage- 

nj   flj 

?  rt 

earners 

u  S3 

A 

A 

r 

u 

c 

u 

^ 

4)    " 
J3     M 

•2 

J2 

Cities 

6.2i 

3  ~ 

3   <U\S. 

s 

u 

E 

3 

Ih 

o 

^ 

^ 

^ 

fu 

?; 

Oi 

Boston 

.   46,649 

77,419 

7,863 

10.2 

13,426 

17.3 

Bridgeport     . . 

.     8,144 

12,533 

537 

4.3 

2,493 

19.9 

Chicago.. 

. .   96,579 

157,616 

20,952 

13.3 

16,575 

10.5 

Cleveland 

.    16,851 

24,934 

2,348 

9.4 

3,060 

12.3 

Duluth.. 

.      1,383 

2,089 

425 

20.3 

371 

17.8 

Kansas  City.. 

.   14,890 

22,512 

2,815 

12.5 

1,979 

8.8 

Milwaukee     . . 

.     8,813 

13,112 

1,030 

7.9 

3,788 

28.9 

Minneapolis. . 

.     2,206 

3,449 

476 

13.8 

183 

5.3 

Philadelphia 

.    79,058 

137,244 

14,147 

10.3 

26,907 

19.6 

Pittsburgh      .  . 

.   36,544 

53,336 

5,942 

11.1 

15,474 

29.0 

St.    Louis      . . 

.   65,979 

104,499 

14,219 

13.6 

14,317 

13.7 

Springfield,    Mo. 

.      1,584 

2,284 

162 

7.1 

32 

1.4 

St.  Paul..      .. 

.      2,515 

4,135 

582 

14.1 

142 

3.4 

Toledo 

.     7,233 

10.312 

1,102 

10.7 

1.801 

17.5 

Wilkes-Barre 

.    11,453 

18,884 

1,200 

6.4 

6,104 

32.3 

Butte,   Mont. 

.     3,557 

4,229 

298 

7.0 

536 

12.7 

Los  Angeles,  Cal 

.      5,621 

7,227 

822 

11.4 

1,744 

24.1 

Oakland,    Cal. 

.     2,927 

4,256 

510 

12.0 

1,144 

26.9 

Ogden,   Utah 

581 

887 

40 

4.5 

127 

14.3 

Portland,    Ore. 

.      1,783 

2,347 

469 

20.0 

406 

17.3 

Sacramento,    Cal 

.      1,288 

1,856 

170 

9.2 

439 

23.7 

Salt      Lake      Cit 

Utah..      .. 

.'     1,052 

1,664 

173 

10.4 

295 

17.7 

San    Diego,    Cal. 

.      1,466 

1,828 

305 

16.7 

533 

29.2 

San  P'rancisco,  Ca 

1.     5,320 

7,749 

1.206 

15.6 

1,971 

25.4 

Seattle,   Wash. 

.    10,112 

13,473 

1,713 

12.7 

1,992 

14.8 

Spokane,    Wash. 

.      1,012 

1,259 

210 

16.7 

257 

20.4 

Tacoma,  Wash. 

.      1,818 

2,558 

457 

17.9 
11.6 

527 

20.6 

Total 

.436,418 

693,691 

80,173 

116,623 

16.8 

17.8  per  cent.;  Toledo,  17.5  per  cent.;  Boston,  17.3  per 
cent.,  and  the  California  cities. 

Of  less  value  in  showing  the  actual  proportion  of 
wage-earners  out  of  work,  but  containing  other  sug- 
gestive data,   are  estimates   for  March,    1914,   obtained 

^\5.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics:  Monthly  Review,  November.  1915, 
pp.  6-7.  The  investigations  in  the  first  15  cities  in  the  list  given  in  the  table 
were  made  in  March  and  April,  1915,  and  in  the  last  12  cities  in  the  list  were 
made  in  June  and  July,   1915. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


105 


by  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  from 
municipal  police  departments,  hitherto  unpublished. 
These  estimates,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  actual  num- 
ber of  unemployed  males,  are  probably  underestimates 
and  were  supplied  to  precinct  heads  by  officers  on  their 
various  "beats."  They  are  summarized  in  the  following 
tabulation : 

STATEMENT   OF    POLICE    OF    AMERICAN   CITIES    REGARDING 

NUMBER    AND    CHARACTER    OF   THE    UNEMPLOYED 

MALES   IN   MARCH,   1914 

Per  cent,  of  total  males  who  are 


Ei^ 


City 

3  0 

0  3 

<u  '3 

*,s 

0 

^ 

H 

K 

(n 

fe 

<: 

Boston      . .     . 

.      18 

8,360 

90.S 

17.1 

82.9 

92.6 

New  York       . , 

.      89 

90,793 

o79.6 

a  43.9 

b59.S 

b75.7 

Newark     . . 

.       7 

3,186 

64.7 

41.7 

53.2 

82.9 

Jersey   City 

.       7 

2,493 

89.7 

26.8 

50.6 

o76.2 

Buffalo      . .      . 

.      14 

13,312 

56.6 

30.6 

42.4 

83.3 

Philadelphia     . 

.     40 

26.921 

86.3 

36.5 

44.8 

75.9 

Baltimore.  . 

.       8 

7,516 

91.6 

21.8 

30.0 

82.0 

Milwaukee 

5 

7,652 

89.2 

25.3 

63.5 

86.6 

Chicago     . . 

.     41 

45,730 

83.5 

28.0 

70.4 

77.4 

Minneapolis 

6 

5,250 

79.5 

15.6 

34.4 

0  69.5 

St.    Louis.  . 

6 

10,411 

93.6 

2«.6 

32.5 

83.8 

Kansas  City     . 

9 

2,245 

53.2 

28.4 

22.4 

85.1 

San  Francisco.  . 

10 

14,110 

53.5 

21.8 

0  41.4 

86.1 

a  No  data  from  one  precinct. 
b  No   data   from   two  precincts. 

Disregarding  the  actual  figures  for  unemployed  per- 
sons, the  foregoing  table  suggests  some  significant  con- 
siderations :  ( I )  The  proportion  actually  seeking  work 
was  so  large  as  decisively  to  refute  the  assertion  fre- 
quently heard  that  the  unemployed  are  chiefly  those  who 
do  not  want  to  work  and  are  charity  seekers.     It  must 


lo6  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

be  remembered  that  these  figures  are  given  by  police- 
men who  can  not  be  accused  of  overestimating  the 
motives  of  the  idle  men  on  their  "beats."  (2)  The  per- 
centage of  unemployed  who  were  residents  of  the  pre- 
cincts in  which  data  were  obtained  varied  according  to 
cities,  but  with  the  exception  of  some  localities  in  sec- 
tions where  the  seasonal  labor  problem  was  most  acute, 
the  proportion  at  home  was  extremely  high.  (3)  About 
three- fourths  of  the  unemployed  were  unskilled  work- 
men, and,  except  in  the  inland  cities,  the  majority  of  these 
were  foreign-born. 

The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  Cost  of  Living  study 
found  that  of  24,402  wage-earners  who  were  heads  of 
families  with  annual  incomes  of  less  than  $1,200,  49.81 
per  cent,  were  involuntarily  idle  some  time  during  1901, 
The  statistics  by  states  are  perhaps  not  representative 
enough  of  local  conditions  because  in  some  states  the 
number  of  families  was  too  small,  but  the  variation  in 
proportion  of  idle  heads  of  families  according  to  geo- 
graphical divisions  suggested  important  differences  in 
the  intensity  of  the  problem  in  different  sections  of  the 
country,  as  follows  :^* 

Total  heads  Per  cent,  idle 

of  families  during  year 

North  Atlantic  States 13.218  49.30 

South  Atlantic  States 2,050  51.71 

North  Central  States 7,166  48.42 

South  Central  States 1.135  74.98 

Western  States      833  30.85 

Total 24,402  49.81 

'"  Fighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1903,  pp.  42, 
286,  287. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  107 

The  statistics  furnished  by  representative  unions  in 
New  York  and  Massachusetts  and  pubHshed  in  the 
public  reports  of  these  states  are  illuminating  because 
they  indicate  in  a  general  way  the  extent  of  unemploy- 
ment in  large  bodies  of  organized  workers  where 
precautions  against  unemployment  are  more  possible  and 
successful  than  among  unorganized  workers.  The  New 
York  reports  from  representative  unions  show  that  the 
mean  monthly  percentage  of  idleness  for  the  eight-year 
period  1907-1914  was  22,  varying  from  16.2  to  29.7.^® 
Similar  reports  from  practically  all  unions  in  New  York 
state  at  the  end  of  September  for  each  year  from  1897 
to  19 1 4  showed  an  average  for  the  18-year  period 
of  1 1  per  cent.,  varying  from  4.7  to  24.4.*° 

The  foregoing  statistics  suggest,  at  least,  the  magni- 
tude of  the  problem  of  unemployment.  The  union 
records  published  by  the  state  governments  of  New 
York  and  Massachusetts  indicate  a  considerable  extent 
of  unemployment  among  large  groups  of  organized 
workers  during  periods  of  several  years;  it  will  be 
shown  in  the  succeeding  chapter  how  the  percentages 
of  unemployed  union  members  has  varied  according 
to  years  of  industrial  activity  and  depression.  The 
surveys  of  unemployment  in  the  spring  of  191 5  were 
made  in  a  period  of  industrial  depression,  and  thus  are 
illustrative  of  the  extent  of  unemployment  when  un- 
employment was  unusually  prevalent.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  recent  period  of  unusual  industrial  activity, 

*•  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  Department  of  Labor,  No.  69,  p.  S. 
*»  Ibid.,  p.  14. 


io8  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

which  began  in  the  summer  of  191 5,  has  brought  about 
an  employment  situation  almost  unprecedented  in  the 
last  decade.  The  restriction  of  immigration  resulting 
from  the  European  conflict,  the  stimulation  of  muni- 
tions manufactures  by  European  "war  orders,"  the  in- 
creased domestic  demand  for  the  products  of  nearly  all 
basic  industries,  and  the  unusually  large  harvests,  of- 
fered opportunity  for  work  to  practically  every  avail- 
able worker  in  the  industrial  centers  and  sections  of  the 
United  States.  "Activity  in  the  market  for  labor,"  was 
the  comment  of  one  observer,  "during  December,  191 5, 
was  greater  than  for  any  December  since  1906.  In  view 
of  the  scarcity  in  immigrant  labor,  which  now  appears 
to  prevail  in  most  industrial  localities  in  the  Eastern 
States,  it  may  not  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  the 
employment  situation  w^as  even  better  than  for  any 
similar  month  in  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years."  *^ 
The  same  authority  published  monthly  statistics  from 
public  free  employment  offices  in  the  principal  industrial 
centers  which  afforded  unmistakable  signs  of  the  marked 
difference  in  the  employment  situation  in  1915  and  1916.^^ 
The  following  table,  for  example,  showed  a  marked 
contrast  between  the  situation  in  January,  1916,  and 
January  19 15,  the  number  of  applicants  for  work  placed 
in  jobs  being  used  as  the  index  of  the  situation.  (See 
table  on  p.  109.) 

The  fact  that  there  were  applicants  for  work  even  in 
the  "boom"  period  which  existed  in  the  winter  of  1915- 

*'  The  Labor  Gazette,  Washington,  D.  C,  February,  1916,  p.  45. 
^'Ibid.,  March,  1916,  p.  62. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  109 

NUMBER    OF    WORKERS    PLACED    IN    JOBS    BY    PUBLIC    FREE 

EMPLOYMENT    OFFICES    IN    VARIOUS    CITIES,   JANUARY, 

1915,  COMPARED  WITH  JANUARY,  1916,  AND  PER 

CENT.  OF  INCREASE  OR  DECREASE 

Per  cent,  of 
1915  1916  increase 

Fall  River,  Mass 67  111  65 

New  Haven,  Conn 103  312  202 

Hartford,   Conn 103  380  268 

Springfield,  Mass 209  683  227 

Boston,   Mass 683  1,485  117 

Detroit,   Mich 704  2,831  302 

Kalamazoo,  Mich 175  362  103 

St.  Paul,  Minn 415  856  106 

Duluth,  Minn 453  772  70 

Minneapolis,  Minn 903  1,141  26 

St.  Joseph,  Mo 321  463  44 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 2,384  887  63o 

Cleveland,    Ohio 3,922  3,339  lOo 

Columbus,  Ohio 641  1,147  79 

Dayton,  Ohio       329  730  122 

Toledo,  Ohio       336  1,149  257 

Milwaukee,  Wis 713  1,436  101 

Kansas  City,  Mo 173  102  41a 

Fort  Worth,  Tex 143  155  8 

a  Decrease. 

1916,  however,  is  significant.  At  that  time  there  was 
frequent  comment  in  the  trade  and  commercial  press 
on  the  possibiHty  of  an  actual  scarcity  of  labor  in  the 
United  States;  yet  there  undoubtedly  were  unemployed 
persons  capable  of  performing  labor  when  the  oppor- 
tunity should  present  itself,  even  in  a  period  of  re- 
stricted immigrant  labor  supply  and  unusual  demand  for 
labor.  In  some  industries  and  localities  where  the  de- 
mand for  labor  as  plainly  abnormal,  a  scarcity  in  the 
labor  supply  was  experienced,  as  increases  in  wages  and 
decreases  in  the  length  of  the  working  day  seemed  to 
indicate.    Much  of  the  increased  demand  was,  however. 


no  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

met   by    full   time   employment   of   the   existing   labor 
force.*^ 

The  condition  seems  to  be  indicated,  therefore,  that, 
only  when  the  supply  of  foreign  labor  is  cut  off  and 
industries  are  operating  at  an  abnormal  capacity, 
is  there  nearly  enough  work  for  all  in  this  country — 
if  by  "work"  is  meant  the  opportunity  to  labor  regu- 
larly. It  is  impossible  to  escape  the  conclusion  that 
in  periods  of  so-called  "normal"  industrial  activity,  as 
well  as  in  periods  of  depressions,  with  an  unrestricted 
immigrant  labor  supply  and  without  adequately  organ- 
ized and  administered  employment  offices,  a  large  num- 
ber of  wage-earners  must  be  unemployed  because  of  the 
lack  of  opportunity  to  be  employed,  to  say  nothing  of 
other  causes  which  may  prevent  them  from  working 
regularly. 

*^The  Labor  Gasette,  in  its  December,  1915,  review  of  the  employiMcnt 
situation,  made  the  following  comment:  "A  careful  review  of  conditions  can 
not,  of  course,  warrant  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  general  scarcity  of  labor 
in  the  United  States,  in  spite  of  the  greatly  increased  industrial  activity  and 
the  diminished  immigrant  supply.  There  does  appear  to  be  a  scarcity  in  cer- 
tain trades  and  in  certain  sections  and  localities  where  industrial  activity  has 
assumed  abnormal  proportions.  Thus  there  seems  to  be  an  inadequate  supply 
of  mechanics  and  skilled  metal  workers  because  of  the  abnormal  demand  re- 
sulting from  a  suddenly  increased  production  of  munitions  and  a  greatly  in- 
creased activity  in  steel  and  allied  manufactures,  especially  in  certain  localities. 
Again,  in  some  sections  where  industrial  activity  has  been  below  normal  for 
some  years,  the  sudden  demand  for  labor  has  exhausted  the  local  supply.  .  .  . 
But  such  conditions  as  these  are  apparently  met,  for  the  most  part,  by  gradual 
adjustments.  Trades  and  occupations  in  which  a  scarcity  has  been  evidenced 
are  being  recruited,  and  labor  is  being  shifted  from  some  sections  to  others 
as  the  opportunity  for  advantageous  employment  becomes  known.  Further- 
more, much  of  the  increased  demand  for  labor  is  only  an  apparent  demand, 
so  far  as  the  need  for  an  actually  larger  number  of  workers  is  concerned. 
More  labor  is  being  performed  and  more  wages — and  in  some  cases  higher 
wages — are  being  paid,  but  these  are  merely  indications  of  a  condition  where 
the  "slack"  of  irregular  employment  is  being  taken  up.  In  other  words,  many 
plants  operating  for  several  years  on  part  time  are  now  operating  steadily  and 
regularly,  and  much  of  the  present  increased  production  is  made  possible  with 
the  same  force  or  with  a  slightly  increased  force."   (p.   14.) 

Note. — Three  other  reports  on  the  number  of  unemployed  may  be  mentioned 
here,  but  their  value  has  been  gravely  questioned.  One  is  the  Rhode  Island 
Census  of  unemployed  persons  in  March   1908,  and   the   other   two  are   the 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  iii 

Federal  Census  reports  for  1890  and  1900.  The  1890  Census  report  may  be 
rejected  entirely,  while  the  1900  report  was  issued  with  careful  warning  as  to 
its  reliability.  Since  the  statistics  include  children  over  10  years  of  age  who 
attended  school  during  the  year,  as  well  as  other  individuals  who 
voluntarily  were  only  occasional  workers,  it  is  obvious  that  the  two  Federal 
Census  reports,  even  if  entirely  reliable  as  to  accuracy,  do  not  touch  the  real 
problem.  The  results  of  the  Rhode  Island  Census  and  of  the  1900  Federal 
Census  are  summarized  below: 

The  Census  report  on  unemployment  showed  that  of  5,772,641  males  10 
years  of  age  and  over  engaged  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits, 
1,631,057,  or  28.3  per  cent.,  were  unemployed  at  some  time  during  the  year, 
and  that  of  1,312,668  females  10  years  of  age  and  over  in  the  same  class  of 
occupation,  294,346,  or  22.4  per  cent.,  were  unemployed.  Thus,  nearly  2,000,000 
workers,  or  27.2  per  cent.,  of  the  total  engaged  in  manufacturing  and  mechani- 
cal pursuits,  were  out  of  work  in  1900.  Taking  both  sexes  in  all  occupations — 
agricultural,  professional,  domestic,  and  personal,  trade  and  transportation, 
manufacturing  and  mechanical — the  formidable  total  of  6,468,974  persons  were 
out  of  work  at  some  time  during  the  year.  These  constituted  22.3  per  cent, 
of  the  total  number  engaged  in  these  classes  of  occupations.  (See  Twelfth 
Census,  1900;   Occupations,  p.  ccxxviii.) 

The  Rhode  Island  Census  of  unemployed  persons  in  1908  has  been  seriously 
questioned  as  to  accuracy.  Moreover,  it  was  made  during  March  of  that  year, 
a  period  of  abnormal  industrial  activity.  The  Census  showed  that  there  were 
18,292  unemployed  persons  among  those  habitually  at  work,  while  replies  from 
manufacturers  in  the  state  indicated  that  there  were  19,121  fewer  persons  em- 
ployed on  February  28,  1908,  than  on  February  28,  1907.  Unfortunately,  the 
only  statistics  of  the  total  number  of  wage-earners  were  those  afforded  by  the 
Federal  Census  of  1905,  which  were  obviously  useless  for  purposes  of  com- 
parison. (See  Twenty-second  Report  of  Industrial  Statistics,  Rhode  Island, 
1908.) 


112  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


IV 


CONDITIONS  CAUSING  IRREGULAR 
EMPLOYMENT 

Nearly  all  discussions  of  unemployment  have  re- 
garded it  as  peculiarly  a  problem  of  industry  and  have 
accordingly  emphasized  those  causes  of  loss  in  working 
time  which  lie  in  industrial  organization  and  method. 
Without  minimizing  the  relative  significance  of  indus- 
trial and  social  causes,  it  is  perhaps  equally  important  to 
look  at  the  problem  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  worker. 
To  introduce  our  consideration  of  the  causes  of  loss  in 
working  time  by  the  wage-earner,  let  us  ask :  First,  what 
are  the  causes  of  unemployment  and  lost  time  as  the 
worker  sees  them?  Second,  what  is  the  relative  im- 
portance of  these  causes  in  the  worker's  actual  ex- 
perience ? 

Several  of  the  investigations,  the  results  of  which  have 
already  been  referred  to,  afford  data  on  the  points  sug- 
gested by  these  questions.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
they  are  by  no  means  exactly  accurate  statistically;  they 
do,  however,  suggest  some  considerations  whose  im- 
portance has  not  been  adequately  recognized  in  treating 
the  unemployment  problem. 

Perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  data  available  for 
answers  to  the  two  questions  are  furnished  in  the  statis- 
tics of  wage-earners'   families  secured  by  the  Federal 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  113 

Bureau  of  Labor's  Cost  of  Living  investigation  in  190 1. 
Of  the  24,402  families  for  which  unemployment  data 
were  obtained,  it  was  found  that  the  heads  of  12,154 
families  were  idle  for  some  period  during  the  year, 
which  averaged  9.43  weeks.  The  causes  of  the  idleness 
of  these  12,154  heads  of  families  were  investigated  and 
the  following  statistics  secured  showing  the  principal 
causes,  the  per  cent,  of  heads  of  families  idle  for  each 
cause,  and  the  average  "weeks  idle"  in  each  case.  These 
causes  together  accounted  for  93  per  cent,  of  all  cases 
of  idleness. 

PER  CENT.  OF  HEADS  OF  12,154  FAMILIES  OF  WORKINGMEN  IDLE 
IN    1901.    BY    PRINCIPAL   CAUSES* 

Per  cent,  idle 

based  on  heads  Average 

Causes  of  Idleness  of  families  weeks 

idle  idle 

Accident      1.66  8.98 

Bad  weather      2.25  9.32 

Establishment  closed      4.30  8.58 

Sickness      22.54  7.71 

Sickness  and  establishment  closed     ....  .95  11.91 

Sickness  and  slack  work      1.67  10.33 

Sickness  and  vacation 1.11  5.32 

Sickness  and  unable  to  get  work        . .      . .  3.70  14.15 

Slack  work        13.05  9.79 

Strike 2.07  9.65 

Unable  to  get  work        33.29  10.90 

Vacation     6.45  2.61 

Causes  of  unemployment  among  women  workers  in 
Indiana  department  stores  and  garment  factories  were 
ascertained  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  in 
cooperation  with  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial 
Relations    and    the    Indiana    Commission    on    Working 

1  From  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Labor,  1902,  p.  45. 


114  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

Women.  Statements  of  reasons  for  unemployment  were 
obtained  from  493  women  workers  in  department  stores 
and  453  women  workers  in  garment  factories  who  lost 
working  time  in  six  principal  cities  and  towns.  These 
statistics  are  not  regarded  as  exact,  but  are  believed  to 
be  sufficiently  accurate  to  indicate  "tendencies."  They 
are  summarized  in  the  following  tables : 

CAUSES  OF  UNEMPLOYMENT  AND  THEIR  RELATIVE  IMPORTANCE 

AMONG  493  WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  INDIANA  DEPARTMENT 

STORES   RESPECTING   UNEMPLOYMENT' 

Per  cent,  of  Per  cent. 

Causes                                                women  reporting  of  time 

unemployment  idle 
For  causes  connected  with  the  industry : 

Lay  oflF      4.1  4.4 

Other  reasons 0.8  1.8 

For  personal  causes : 

Voluntary  vacation        71.0  16.6 

Illness        29.2  17.9 

Other  reasons 51.3  58.6 

CAUSES  OF  UNEMPLOYMENT  AND  THEIR  RELATIVE  IMPORTANCE 

AMONG  453  WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  INDIANA  GARMENT 

FACTORIES  REPORTING  UNEMPLOYMENT  3 

Per  cent,  of  Per  cent. 

Causes  women   reporting  of  time 

unemployment  idle 

For  causes  connected  with  the  industry : 

Layoff      39.7  16.6 

Lay  off  because  of  floods 12.1  1.3 

Other  causes 3.5  7.4 

For  personal  causes : 

Voluntary  vacation       40.2  10.9 

Illness        52.8  45.1 

Other  reasons         29.8  16.9 

'Bulletin  No.  160,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1914;  Hours,  Earnings,  and 
Conditions  of  Labor  of  Women  in  Indiana  Mercantile  Establishments  and 
Garment  Factories,  p.   52. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  88.  The  e.xplanation  of  the  terms  employed  in  the  classification  of 
causes  of  unemployment  in  tlie  above  tables,  as  given  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  is  that  the  term  "other  causes"  connected  with  the  industry,  included 
strikes,  vacations  taken  in  order  to  avoid  the  stigma  of  being  laid  off,  and 
blacklisting,  and  that  "other  personal  reasons"  include  "illness  in  the  worke-'s 
family,    conditions   or   responsibilities   which   demanded   her   presence   at   home 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  115. 

Of  the  fifteen  hundred  comparatively  steady  employed 
women  in  confectionery,  paper  box  and  shirt  factories 
and  in  retail  stores  in  the  state  of  New  York,  who 
were  interviewed  by  agents  of  the  New  York  State 
Factory  Investigating  Commission  in  19 13-19 14,  1,000 
had  lost  on  an  average  one  month  during  the  preceding 
year.  Dr.  H,  B.  Woolston,  director  of  the  investigation 
for  the  Commission,  comments  as  follows : 

**Two  or  three  weeks  were  usually  accounted  for  by 
slack  work  or  no  jobs ;  one  or  two  weeks  were  due  to 
illness  or  family  troubles.  Holidays  and  vacations  are 
a  cause  of  loss  to  many  factory  hands,  because  many 
are  not  paid  for  time  off,  and  for  piece-workers  days 
out  are  always  a  sacrifice.  In  stores,  the  majority  of 
employees  have  a  week  or  two  off  in  the  summer,  with 
half  or  full  pay.  But  in  some  places  a  partial  shut- 
down is  an  excuse  for  obligatory  vacations."^ 

The  foregoing  statistics  picture  the  causes  of  unem- 
ployment from  the  point  of  view  of  the  worker  for  a 
year's  time.  The  question  suggests  itself,  is  the  relative 
importance  of  the  causes  named  constant  in  all  years,  or 
does  it  vary  from  year  to  year? 

Unfortunately,  there  is  no  way  of  studying  the  same 
individuals  from  whom  the  above  data  were  obtained 
for  a  series  of  years.  There  are,  however,  some  statis- 
tics of  causes  of  unemployment  for  a  series  of  years 

idleness  through  choice,  etc."  "Voluntary  vacation"  included  "only  such  time 
as  was  voluntarily  taken  by  the  worker  for  rest  and  recreation." 

"The  line  of  demarcation,"  says  the  Bulletin,  "has  necessarily  been  rather 
difficult  to  draw,  but  the  classification  has  been  followed  as  closely  as  possi- 
ble."     (p.  53.) 

'•  The  Survey,  xxxiii,  p.  508,  February  6,  1915. 


ii6 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


which  indicate  tendencies  to  corroborate  conclusions  that 
are  afforded  from  other  data.  The  following  tabula- 
tion contains  statistics  furnished  by  secretaries  of  repre- 
sentative labor  unions   in   Massachusetts,   which,   while 


REPRESENTATIVE    MASSACHUSETTS    UNIONS— PERCENTAGE 
UNEMPLOYED  1908-1914.   BY   CAUSES  ^ 


Quarters  Ending 

March  31,  1908 
June  30, 1908    ..      .. 
September  30,  1908 
December  31,  1908 

March  31,  1909 
June  30, 1909    ..      .. 
September,  30,  1909 
December,  31,  1909 


March  31,  1910 
June  30,  1910    ..      .. 
September  30,  1910 
December  31,  1910 

March  31,  1911 
June  30,  1911 
September  30,  1911 
December   30,c    1911 

March  30,  c  1912      ., 
June  29,  c  1912 
September,  30,  1912 
December   31,    1912 

March  31,  1913 
June  30, 1913 
September  30,  1913 
December  31,  1913 

March  31,  1914 
June  30,  1914 
September  30,  1914 
December  31,  1914 


Lack  of 

Unfavor- 

Strikes 

All 
Causes 

Work  or 
Material 

able 
Weather 

or 
Lockouts 

Dis- 
ability 

Other 
Causes  a 

17.9 

16.2 

0.2 

0.7 

0.7 

0.1 

14.4 

12.5 

0.1 

0.3 

1.2 

0.3 

10.6 

8.7 

0.0  b 

0.5 

1.2 

0.2 

13.9 

11.0 

0.5 

0.7 

1.2 

0.5 

11.4 

9.5 

0.1 

0.2 

1.3 

0.3 

6.4 

4.6 

0.0  6 

0.3 

1.2 

0.3 

4.8 

3.4 

0.1 

0.1 

1.1 

0.1 

9.4 

4.9 

2.4 

0.1 

1.2 

0.8 

7.1 

5.3 

0.1 

0.1 

1.4 

0.2 

7.0 

5.4 

0.0  h 

0.1 

1.2 

0.3 

5.6 

4.0 

0.1 

0.1 

1.3 

0.1 

10.2 

7.3 

1.2 

0.1 

1.2 

0.4 

10.4 

7.5 

0.7 

0.1 

1.4 

0.7 

6.6 

4.2 

0.2 

0.5 

1.2 

0.5 

5.6 

3.7 

0.2 

0.3 

1.2 

0.2 

9.7 

6.0 

1.6 

0.1 

1.3 

0.7 

14.1 

5.1 

1.0 

6.3 

1.3 

0.4 

5.3 

3.4 

0.0  6 

0.4 

1.3 

0.2 

4.7 

3.0 

0.1 

0.3 

1.2 

0.1 

9.1 

6.4 

0.6 

0.6 

1.2 

0.3 

11.3 

7.3 

0.5 

1.6 

1.4 

0.5 

6.4 

4.3 

0.1 

0.7 

1.2 

0.1 

6.8 

4.3 

0.5 

0.6 

1.2 

0.2 

10.4 

7.3 

0.7 

0.5 

1.4 

0.5 

12.9 

9.2 

0.7 

0.6 

1.6 

0.8 

9.9 

6.9 

0.3 

0.7 

1.2 

0.8 

11.0 

8.5 

0.2 

0.5 

1.5 

0.3 

18.3 

14.9 

1.1 

0.1 

1.5 

0.7 

a  Including  vacations,  temporary  shut-downs  for  repairs,  stock-taking,  etc. 

b  Less  than  0.05  per  cent. 

f  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  respective  dates — December  31,  1911,  March  31, 
1912,  and  June  30,  1912 — fell  on  Sunday,  the  date  chosen  for  the  returns  in  each 
case  was  the  day  preceding. 

•Report   on   the    Statistics    of    Labor,    Massachusetts,    1915,    Part   ix,   p.    39. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  117 

not  absolutely  exact,  are  accurate  enough  to  point  un- 
mistakably to  certain  facts. 

The  following  tendencies  appear  to  be  indicated  by 
the  above  statistics: 

(i)  Disability  of  the  worker  is  a  fairly  constant 
cause  of  unemployment  from  season  to  season  and  from 
year  to  year. 

(2)  Weather  conditions  as  a  cause  of  unemployment 
vary  in  intensity  chiefly  according  to  season,  becoming 
an  important  factor  in  winter. 

(3)  Labor  disputes,  as  shown  by  the  New  York 
figures,  appear  to  be  a  more  prolific  cause  of  unemploy- 
ment in  periods  of  low  unemployment. 

(4)  Lack  of  work  as  a  cause  varies  in  intensity  ac- 
cording to  season  and  according  to  year,  following  the 
seasonal  and  cyclical  fluctuations  in  industrial  activity. 

(5)  Taking  all  occupations  and  industries  together, 
of  the  two  most  important  causes  of  unemployment, 
from  the  worker's  standix)int,  disability  (chiefly  due  to 
sickness),  and  lack  of  work,  the  former  is  a  fairly  con- 
stant factor  while  the  latter  is  a  very  variable  factor.^ 
The  general  term,  "lack  of  work,"  covers  all  conditions 
governing  the  opportunity  to  be  employed. 

Analysis  of  the  Causes  of  Loss  in  Working  Time  or 
Unemployment 

The  causes  of  loss  in  working  time  by  wage-earners, 
as  suggested  in  the  foregoing  statistics — accident,  clos- 

•  Some  of  these  tendencies  are  noted  in  the  comment  upon  similar  statis- 
tics by  Frank  B.  Sargent.  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Bulletin,  109,  Statistics  of 
Unemployment  and  the  Work  of  Employment  Offices,   1912. 


Ii8  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

ing  down  of  plants,  sickness,  slack  work,  vacations, 
strikes,  bad  weather  and  the  like — have  been  variously 
classified  by  writers  and  in  reports  on  unemployment 
according  to  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  problem 
has  been  investigated  and  discust. 

Taking  into  consideration  all  the  factors  that  have 
been  treated  in  the  various  analyses,  and  looking  at  the 
problem  of  unemployment  from  the  standpoint  of  loss  in 
working  time  as  a  condition  of  labor,  there  appear  to 
be  three  general  groups  of  causes : 

(1)  Evolutionary  changes  in  industry  and  in  social 
habits  and  movements  which  affect  the  character  and 
the  extent  of  the  demand  for  labor,  as  well  as  the 
character  and  the  quality  of  the  labor  supply. 

(2)  Conditions,  methods  and  character  of  industry 
which  affect  the  steadiness  of  the  demand  for  labor. 

(3)  Conditions  determining  the  worker's  ability  to 
grasp  or  retain  the  opportunity  to  be  employed  that 
industry  offers. 

It  must  be  apparent  that  the  distinction  between  "in- 
dustrial" and  "personal"  causes,  which  some  analyses 
have  attempted,  is  misleading.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
that  there  is  any  one  group  of  causes — or  any  single 
principal  cause,  for  that  matter — which  affects  only  the 
employer  or  only  the  employee.  Both  are  affected  by  all 
three  of  the  fundamental  causes  named  above.  The 
employer  is  governed  by  social  conventions,  by  climatic 
conditions,  by  methods  peculiar  to  his  line  of  manufac- 
turing, and  by  the  efficiency  of  the  worker,  in  the 
amount  and  kind  of  employment  he  offers.     A  worker's 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  119 

efficiency  or  ability  to  hold  his  job  when  other  workers 
are  being  laid  off  is  affected  by  the  nature  and  regularity 
of  his  employment  and  of  his  work  no  less  than  by  the 
efficacy  of  his  income  to  meet  the  necessity  for  healthful 
conditions  of  living,  or  by  the  character  of  other  ele- 
ments in  his  mental  and  physical  environment.  It  is 
hard  to  fix  the  responsibility. 

The  main  fact  which  every  careful  analysis  of  the 
causes  of  unemployment  has  shown  is  this:  That  there 
are  certain  conditions,  whether  they  lie  in  industry,  in 
the  worker,  or  in  society,  which  necessitate  the  idleness 
of  a  large  number  of  individuals  whose  welfare  depends 
on  their  opportunity  to  sell  their  labor,  and  that  there 
are  certain  conditions,  not  necessarily  different  in 
identity,  which  determine  the  worker's  ability  to  be 
among  those  who  are  steadily  employed.  The  two  ques- 
tions most  pertinent  here  are  these :  ( i )  How  does  the 
worker  lose  working  time?  (2)  In  what  way  or  ways 
does  he  lose  the  most  time? 

With  this  point  of  view  the  principal  facts  may  be 
summarized  briefly. 

Evolutionary  Changes  Affecting  Employment 

These  changes  may  be  grouped  in  two  classes:  (i) 
Changes  in  industry  and  in  industrial  organization 
and  location  which  affect  the  character  of  the  de- 
mand for  labor;  (2)  changes  in  the  quantity  and  the 
character  of  the  supply  of  labor.  These  two  groups  of 
causes  of  unemployment   are  evolutionary.     They   are 


120  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

peculiarly  social  forces  which  operate  outside  of  the 
field  of  immediate  control  of  either  the  employer  or 
the  employee  and  to  which  both  employers  and  em- 
ployees must  adjust  themselves  in  the  best  way  they 
may.  Yet  it  is  a  familiar  fact  that  in  this  unceasing 
process  of  adjustment  the  employers  are  in  a  more  ad- 
vantageous position  than  the  workers  who,  regardless 
of  their  merits,  to  quote  John  Stuart  Mill,  are  "sac- 
rificed to  the  gains  of  their  fellow  citizens  and  of 
posterity." 

I.  Changes  in  Industrial  Structure  and  Methods. — • 
To  borrow  the  excellent  summary  from  Mr.  W.  H. 
Beveridge's  "Unemployment,"  "Changes  in  industrial 
structure  are  constantly  recurring  and  constantly  throw- 
ing men  out  of  employment.  The  very  life  and  growth 
of  industry  consist  in  the  replacement  of  old  machines 
by  new ;  of  established  processes  by  better  ones ;  of 
labor  in  one  form  and  combination  by  labor  in  fresh  forms 
or  fresh  combinations.  The  demand  for  labor  is  thus 
in  a  state  of  flux  and  reconstruction  both  as  to  quality 
and  as  to  quantity.  Men  who  for  years  have  satisfied 
the  demand  in  one  form  may  find  the  form  suddenly 
changed;  their  niche  in  industry  broken  up;  their  hard 
won  skill  superfluous  in  a  new  world;  themselves  also 
superfluous  unless  they  will  and  can  learn  fresh  arts 
and  find  the  way  into  familiar  occupations.  They  are 
displaced  by  economic  forces  entirely  beyond  their  con- 
trol and  taking  little  or  no  account  of  personal  merits."  ' 

It  has  been  objected  that  such  changes  are  in  them- 

»Page  111. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  121 

selves  not  causes  of  unemployment,  because  for  the  most 
part  they  are  so  gradual  as  to  permit  the  worker  to 
adjust  himself,  and  because  his  failure  to  adjust  himself 
is  really  the  cause  of  unemployment.^  Reasoning  of 
this  sort  seems  rather  specious  in  the  face  of  the  facts. 
Unemployment,  at  least  from  the  worker's  point  of  view 
is  essentially  the  problem  of  the  worker's  economic 
security.  Anything  that  disturbs  his  security  may  be- 
come a  cause  of  unemployment  and  loss  in  working  time. 
Granting  for  the  moment  that  changes  in  industrial 
structure  and  methods  are  so  gradual  as  to  permit  the 
worker  to  adjust  himself  to  changed  conditions,  it  may 
pertinently  be  asked :  Is  the  average  worker  in  a  posi- 
tion to  foresee  changes  in  the  demand  in  time  to  make 
them,  or,  if  he  has  the  foresight,  is  he  financially  able 
to  prepare  himself  for  a  new  occupation,  to  move  to  a 
new  place,  and  to  adjust  himself  to  new  conditions  of 
work  and  living?  Furthermore,  changes  in  demand, 
unless  the  worker  is  able  to  foresee  them  and  prepare 
for  them,  do  not  come  gradually.  They  are  gradual 
when  viewed  from  the  historian's  point  of  view,  but 
to  the  worker  they  are  frequently  as  sudden  as  a 
stroke  of  paralysis.  Compared  with  other  causes  of 
actual  loss  of  working  time  and  unemployment,  how- 
ever, changes  in  industrial  structure  and  methods  are 
unimportant.  The  actual  percentage  of  unemployed 
persons  for  any  period  of  time  who  are  out  of  work 
for  these  reasons  would  probably  be  almost  infinitesimal, 
if  we  had  statistical  data  for  comparisons.    'Kt  the  same 

»Ibid.,  p.  114. 


122  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

time,  the  effects  of  such  causes  upon  the  worker's  earn- 
ings and  his  economic  security  are  probably  much  more 
serious  than  the  actual  loss  in  working  time  occasioned, 
if  the  emphasis  placed  by  labor  unions  on  the  effects  of 
new  machinery  and  of  new  processes  can  be  taken  as  a 
true  indication  of  the  worker's  point  of  view. 

In  order  to  illustrate,  as  clearly  as  available  data 
will  allow,  the  character  of  the  causes  of  unemploy- 
ment that  exist  in  changes  in  industrial  structure  and 
methods,  the  following  specific  changes  may  be  noted : 

a.  Changes  in  demand  for  labor  according  to  in- 
dustry. 

b.  Changes  in  demand  for  labor  according  to  locality. 

c.  Changes  in  demand  for  labor  due  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  machinery  and  new  processes. 

d.  Changes  in  organization  of  industry. 

a.  Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  According  to  In- 
dustry.— The  unequal  rate  of  development  among  differ- 
ent industries  is  in  itself  a  contributory  factor  in  un- 
employment, since  it  means  that  the  demand  for  labor 
varies  in  intensity  both  as  to  location  and  as  to  the  kind 
of  labor  demanded.  The  potency  of  this  factor  is  diffi- 
cult of  measurement.  Changes  in  demand  due  to  it  are 
not  so  gradual  as  might  be  assumed,  for  within  a  single 
decade — even  within  a  period  of  five  years — they  occur 
with  pronounced  intensity.  The  following  statistics 
showing  the  increase  and  decrease  in  the  average  num- 
ber of  wage-earners  for  certain  industries  will  indicate 
something  of  the  rapidity  of  such  changes: 


7:.V   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  123 

INCREASE  IN  NUMBER  OF  WAGE-EARNERS,   1899-1909,  IN  ALL 
INDUSTRIES  AND  IN  9  LARGEST  INDUSTRIES' 

Average 

number  of  Per    cent,    of    increase 

wage-  ,, ^ ^ 

Industry  earners  1899-       1904-       1899- 

1909  1909        1909        1904 

All   industries 6,615,046  40.4  21.0  16.0 

Slaughtering   and   meat-packing 89,728  29.5  19.0  8.9 

Foundry  and  machine  shop  products  ..      ..  531,011  ...  19.8  ... 

Lumber  and  timber  products 695,019  36.6  30.5  4.7 

Iron  and  steel,  steel  works  and  rolling  mills  240,076  31.0  15.7  13.3 

Flour  and  grist  mill  products       39,453  22.4  0.9  21.4 

Printing  and  publishing 258,434  32.4  18.0  12.2 

Cotton   goods 378,88o  25.1  19.9  4.3 

Clothing,  men's 239,696  52.1  38.0  10.2 

Boots  and  shoes        198,297  31.1  23.7  6.0 

DECREASE  IN  NUMBER  OF  WAGE-EARNERS,   1899-1909,   IN 
CERTAIN   INDUSTRIES'* 

Average 

number  of  Per    cent,    of  decrease 

wage-  , ^ .^ 

Industry                                                               earners  1899-       1904-  1899- 

1909  1909        1909  1904 

Iron  and  steel,  blast  furnaces        38,429           2.1        a  9.6  10.6 

Smelting  and  refining,  lead 7,424  10.8           2.0  9.0 

Carriages,  wagons       69,928           5.3         10.2  a  5.5 

Ship  and  boat  building      40.506  13.4         20.2  a  8.6 

Roofing  materials        2,465  67.5         72.0  o  16.1 

Bicycles    and    motorcycles        4,437  74.7      a  33.7  81.1 

a  Increase. 

b.  Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  According  to  Lo- 
cality.— The  unusual  growth  or  decHne  of  certain  in- 
dustries in  specific  sections  or  locahties  has  its  effect 
in  increasing  unemployment.  To  meet  these  changes 
the  worker  must  be  able  to  shift  his  home  and  to  adjust 
himself  to  new  conditions  in  his  occupation,  or  else  have 
a  smaller  chance  of  being  employed. 

The  Thirteenth  Census  showed  that,  in  the  five-year 
period  1899- 1904,  the  number  of  wage-earners  de- 
creased, for  example,  in  localities  as  follows : 

»  Compiled  from  Thirteenth  Census,  Vol.  viii,  p.  40. 

'"  Compiled  from  Thirteenth  Census,  Vol.  viii,  pp.  40-42. 


124  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Per  cent,  of  decrease  in 
Locality  average  number  of  wage- 

earners,  1899-1904 

Hammond,  Indiana 42.3 

Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire        ....  51.8 

Fall  River,  Massachusetts       12.4 

Cohoes,  New  York 16.5 

Knoxville,  Tennessee        28.6 

Augusta,  Georgia       13.0 

In  the  five-year  period  1905- 1909,  the  following  local- 
ities, for  example,  showed  decreases: 

Per  cent,  of  decrease  in 
Locality  average  number  of  wage- 

earners,  1905-1909 

Mobile,  Alabama        5.0 

New  London,  Connecticut       12.9 

Lowell,  Massachusetts       ol8.7 

o  Women  wage-earners  only. 

During  the  last  Census  decade,  a  number  of  localities 
exhibited  decreases  in  the  average  number  of  wage- 
earners  employed  in  manufacturing  industries,  among 
which  may  be  named  the  following: 

Per  cent,  of  decrease  in 
Locality  number  of  wage-earnerst 

1899-1909 

Troy,  New  York        12.7 

Jacksonville,  Florida 25.0 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania         a7A 

Homestead,  Pennsylvania        a44.3 

Pensacola,  Florida      20.3 

Savannah,  Georgia      15.6 

Alton,  Illinois       20.9 

Cairo,  Illinois       13.8 

Quincy,  Illinois 12.4 

Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana 42.4 

Cumberland,  Maryland     14.9 

Hagerstown,  Maryland      22.3 

Charleston,  South  Carolina 16.7 

Knoxville,  Tennessee        7.5 

a  Men  wage-earners  only. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  125 

While  in  some  of  these  instances  the  decreases  in 
number  of  wage-earners  may  be  more  apparent  than 
real,  because  of  changes  in  city  boundaries  or  a  local 
industrial  depression  occurring  in  1909,  they  are  at 
least  sufficient  to  suggest  the  familiar  decline  in  in- 
dustrial activity  and  the  demand  for  labor  that  occurs 
in  localities  for  various  reasons. 

PER  CENT.  OF  INCREASE  IN  AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  WAGE- 
EARNERS,    1899-1909,   IN   CERTAIN   CITIES 

City  Male  Female 

New  York      39.2  53.1 

Chicago 30.5  54.7 

Philadelphia 15.6  28.6 

St.  Louis        34.6  40.8 

Cleveland        49.1  67.3 

Detroit 129.1  64.8 

Baltimore       7.9  5.5 

Boston     20.4  49.8 

Cincinnati       9.4  7.8 

Newark 37.5  46.9 

Milwaukee      47.9  54.3 

Buffalo 49.9  54.2 

Providence 21.4  24.2 

Rochester       46.0  35.5 

Fall  River      29.1  14.3 

Paterson         4.7  32.6 

Indianapolis 49.4  57.0 

Lawrence       48.5  37.8 

On  the  other  hand,  the  demand  for  labor  in  certain 
localities  shows  varying  degrees  of  increase  in  the  same 
Census  period.  The  fact  that  the  increase  in  demand 
is,  in  itself,  not  uniform  is  an  evidence  of  the  instability 
of  demand  so  far  as  locality  is  concerned.  The  effect 
is  to  pull  the  worker  in  directions  that  change  over  a 
period  of  time  much  shorter  than  the  natural  dura- 
tion of  a  wage-earner's  working  life.     Contrasted  with 


126  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

the  foregoing  statistics  of  decrease  in  wage-earners  in 
certain  localities  and  indicating  the  concentration  of  the 
demand  for  labor  during  the  ten  years  from  1899  to 
1909,  the  percentages  of  increase  in  the  average  number 
of  wage-earners  in  certain  centers  are  interesting. 
The  extraordinary  increase  in  the  number  of  women 
wage-earners  in  the  majority  of  the  cities  named  above 
is  especially  significant.  It  may  also  be  noted  that  those 
localities  showing  increases  in  wage-earners  are  larger 
centers,  with  a  few  exceptions,  than  those  localities 
exhibiting  decreases. 

c.  Changes  in  Demand  for  Labor  Due  to  the  In- 
troduction of  Machinery  and  New  Processes. — What- 
ever may  be  the  opinion  of  students  of  industrial 
evolution  as  to  the  ultimate  efifects  upon  labor  of  the 
introduction  of  new  mechanical  methods  and  processes, 
there  is  practical  unanimity  as  to  the  changes  in  demand 
for  labor — both  in  quantity  and  in  character  of  labor — 
as  a  temporary  effect.  In  practically  all  instances 
where  machinery  has  been  introduced,  either  some 
amount  of  labor  has  been  rendered  unnecessary  or  a 
different  kind  of  labor  has  been  needed.  In  the  major- 
ity of  instances  both  changes  have  occurred. 

This  is  a  fact  of  industry  so  familiar  that  an  array 
of  corroborative  data  is  not  needed  here.  It  is  perti- 
nent only  to  emphasize  its  significance  as  a  factor 
causing  unemployment  and  loss  of  working  time,  tem- 
porary tho  it  may  be.  One  of  the  main  grounds  of  the 
trade  union's  position  with  regard  to  the  question  of 
machinery  and  new  processes,  is  that  some  workers  not 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


127 


only  have  their  pay  reduced  because  less  skilled  work 
is  required,  but  many  lose  their  jobs  entirely.  Displace- 
ment of  labor  thus  often  means  unemployment  until 
the  displaced  worker  is  able  to  find  the  same  kind  of 
work  in  a  decaying  occupation,  or  is  able  to  adjust  him- 
self to  the  change  in  demand  for  labor  and  to  other 
kinds  of  work,  frequently  in  another  locality. 

While  there  are  many  instances  of  at  least  tempo- 
rary displacement  as  an  effect  of  the  introduction  of  new 
processes  and  machinery  and  of  calculations  as  to  the 
number  of  workers  that  a  specific  machine  or  process 
actually  displaces,  there  are  no  statistics  to  indicate  the 
loss  of  working  time  or  the  extent  of  unemployment 
thus  brought  about.  Some  idea  of  the  importance  of 
this  factor  as  a  cause  of  unemployment  may  be  sug- 
gested by  a  comparison  of  the  ratio  of  increase  or 
decrease  in  the  number  of  wage-earners  in  an  Industry 
with  the  ratio  of  increase  in  mechanical  power  employed 
in  the  last  Census  decade.  A  few  instances  are 
sufficient,  thus : 


Per  cent,  of 

Industry 

decrease  in 
average  number  of 

wage-earners 

Agricultural  implements    . .     . . 

8.5 

Cars  and  street  railroad     . . 

0.1 

Iron  and  steel,  blast  furnaces  . . 

2.1 

Petroleum  refining  a 

16.9 

Smelting  and  refining  lead 

10.8 

oFor  the  five  years,  1904-1909. 

Per  cent,  of 
increase  in 
horse-power 
per  wage- 
earner 

25.0 
33.0 
42.2 
41.5 
52.7 


"In  the  five  years  between  the  manufacturing  cen- 
suses of  1900  and  1905,"  as  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee on   unemployment  of  the   New   York  Commission 


128  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

on  Employers'  Liability  and  Unemployment  remarks, 
"out  of  6i  leading  industries  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  nine  suffered  actual  decreases  in  the  number  of 
their  employees  which  might  be  traced  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  machinery.  The  decreases  in  the  number  of 
wage-earners  are  accompanied  by  an  increase  in  the 
value  of  machinery,  tools,  and  equipment  employed."  " 
The  following  table  for  New  York  State,  compiled 
from  general  census  statistics,  is  typical  of  what  may 
be  found  to  occur  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  other 
States  and  even  in  localities : 

Per  cent,  of 
Per  cent,  of  increase  in 

decrease  in  value  of 

Industry  average  machinery, 

number  of  tools  and 

wage-earners  equipment 

Men's  furnishing  goods 23.0  17.0 

Leather  gloves  and  mittens       . .      . .  43.0  17.0 

Leather,  tanned,  curried  and  finished  16.0  46.0 

Newspapers  and  periodicals     ....  1.5  4.0 

Lithographing  and  engraving  ....  2.7  2.0 

Worsted  goods o  61.0 

Cotton  goods 5.0  24.0 

a  Practically   no   change. 

The  change  in  the  character  of  the  demand  due  to 
the  introduction  of  new  machinery  and  processes  is  not 
indicated  in  statistics  such  as  the  above,  but  that  it  is 
a  factor  in  causing  unemployment  through  the  dis- 
placement of  labor  can  not  be  doubted.  For,  while  the 
total  number  of  workers  in  an  industry  may  not  be 
decreased,  or  may  even  be  increased,  by  changes  in 
process,  a  considerable  number  may  be  thrown  out  of 
employment  because   their   occupations   are  eliminated. 

"Third  Report,  1911,  p.  44. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  129 

It  may  be  true  that  these  workers  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  be  employed  at  the  same  plants  in  new  or 
different  occupations,  but  it  is  also  true  that  a  skilled 
worker,  especially  an  artizan  in  hand  occupations,  will 
naturally  try  to  secure  work  to  which  he  has  become 
accustomed  and  in  which  he  has  been  trained  else- 
where, rather  than  to  go  into  new  work  at  wages  that 
usually  are  considerably  lower  than  what  he  has  been 
earning.  Certainly  his  economic  security  has  been 
endangered,  or  even  weakened,  and  frequently  actual 
unemployment  occurs. 

Instances  of  this  change  in  the  kind  of  labor  required 
are  numerous  in  the  history  of  American  industry.  In 
cotton  spinning  the  tendency  has  been  to  increase  the 
number  of  ring  spindles  at  the  expense  of  mule  spin- 
ning. The  former  method  allows  the  use  of  cheap, 
unskilled  foreign  labor.  The  linotype  machine  requires 
men  of  probably  the  same  skill  and  intelligence  as  hand 
setting,  altho  along  different  lines,  but  it  has  cut  down 
the  number  of  workers  required,  even  faster  than  the 
printing  industry  could  develop.  The  new  Huhn  coal- 
mining machine  will  do  as  much  work  as  20  hand-pick 
miners  and  at  half  the  cost.  Lifting  magnets,  pneu- 
matic hoists  and  traveling  cranes  render  unnecessary, 
not  highly  skilled  labor,  but  the  most  unskilled.  The 
old  type  of  hand  shoemaker  is  fast  disappearing  before 
the  advances  made  by  the  Goodyear,  McKay  and  other 
machines.  The  field  of  the  hand-worker  is  constantly 
being  narrowed  by  inventions  which  come  closer  and 
closer  to  the  reproduction  of  the  hand-made  product. 


I30  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

d.  Changes  in  Organization  of  Industry. — The  con- 
centration of  industries  in  certain  localities,  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery  and  new  processes,  the  closing  up 
of  or  failure  of  occasional  plants,  and  the  "decay"  of 
certain  trades  and  rise  of  new  occupations,  are,  of 
course,  directly  traceable  in  a  large  degree  to  changes  in 
the  organization  of  industry.  These  changes,  it  is  well 
recognized,  are  principally  the  changes  brought  about  by 
the  growth  of  corporate  ownership  and  the  decline  of 
private  operation  of  manufacturing  establishments.  It 
is  only  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  completeness,  to 
refer  to  changes  of  this  character  that  have  taken  place 
in  the  last  Census  decade  in  order  to  bring  to  mind 
their  extent  even  in  so  short  a  period : 

PER  CENT.  OF  ESTABLISIOIEXTS  UNDER  CORPORATE  OWNERSHIP 

IN  ALL  INDUSTRIES   AND  IN   SOME   OF  THE   PRINCIPAL 

INDUSTRIES,    1899    AND    1909,    COMPARED" 

Per  cent,  operated 
by  corporations 

Industry  f '^ ^ 

1909  1899 

All  industries       25.9  17.9 

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing     29.7  20.9 

Foundry  and  machine  shop  products  . .     . .  48.4  a  32.8 

Lumber  and  timber  products 17.1  11.4 

Iron  and  steel,  steel  works  and  rolling  mills  95.1  )  _»_ 

Iron  and  steel,  blast  furnaces 93.8  j 

Flour  and  grist  mill  products 19.4  15.0 

Printing  and  publishing 22.8  14.9 

Cotton  goods        84.1  69.8 

Clothing,  men's 13.0  5.4 

Boots  and  shoes 38.3  20.2 

Woolen  and  worsteds 58.7  32.9 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods 47.4  31.1 

Clothing,  women's       12.8  4.8 

o  Includes  "locomotives  not  made  by  railroad  companies,"  and  stoves  and 
furnaces.     The  correct  percentage  for  1899  would  probably  be  lower. 

"Thirteenth  Census,  Vol.  viii,  pp.  137-138. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  131 

But,  as  the  report  of  the  New  York  Commission 
on  Unemployment,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made,  points  out,  there  are  other  changes  in  organiza- 
tion which  even  more  directly  have  resulted  in  unem- 
ployment. "Even  without  changing  the  ownership  of 
establishments,"  says  this  report,  "reorganization  of 
methods  for  economizing  in  the  cost  of  production  are 
constantly  being  introduced,  and  the  effect  invariably 
is  to  displace  some  workers.  The  industrial  engineers 
who  recently  described  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission the  economies  they  had  introduced  in  manu- 
facturing establishments  testified  that  the  number  of 
wage-earners  necessary  to  carry  on  the  work  had  been 
reduced  by  their  system  or  else  more  work  was  accom- 
plished with  the  same  number.  .  .  .  That  reor- 
ganizations and  business  economies  are  a  constant  source 
of  unemployment  can  not  be  doubted.  Reports  from 
five  employment  offices  throughout  the  country  state 
that  there  is  an  oversupply  of  clerks,  bookkeepers  and 
general  mercantile  help.  These  are  the  workers  who 
are  mostly  displaced  by  organization  and  economy  in 
business  methods."  ^^ 

2.  Changes  in  the  Quantity  and  Character  of  the 
Labor  Supply. — How  far  social  changes  that  affect  the 
character  of  the  labor  supply,  or  determine  the  quantity, 
are  related  to  the  problem  of  unemployment,  loss  of 
working  time,  and  the  economic  security  of  the  worker, 
can  not  be  measured.  That  they  do  have  effects  in 
unemployment    can    not   be    denied.      Social    standards 

"  Supra  cit.,  pp.  46-47. 


132  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

and  movements  undoubtedly  play  a  part  in  determining 
the  physical  and  mental  efficiency  of  the  worker,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  moral  qualities.  The  state  of  national  or 
even  local  opinion  on  the  liquor  question  is  a  factor, 
just  as  is  the  growth  of  the  public  health  movement, 
or  the  recognition  of  a  better  correlation  of  education 
and  every-day  life.  But  these  factors  are  not  capable 
of  statistical  statement  for  a  community  or  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  altho  their  influence  in  the  life  of  the 
individual  worker  can  not  be  doubted.  We  know  that 
they  are  causes  of  loss  of  working  time  and  of  uncer- 
tainty in  employment  sufficiently  potent  to  warrant  the 
expenditure  of  a  great  deal  more  energy  in  the  work  of 
amelioration  and  reform  than  is  now  being  expended. 

To  some  extent  changes  in  the  quantity  and  character 
of  the  labor  supply  are  brought  about  by  the  demand  of 
industry  for  labor.  Whether  these  changes  are  due 
more  to  demand,  or  more  to  social  forces,  is  impossible 
of  statement.  Apparently  the  increased  proportion  of 
unskilled,  untrained  workers  is  due  to  a  change  in  the 
demand  for  workers,  but  it  is  also  agreed  that  the  influx 
of  large  numbers  of  immigrants  into  industry  has  made 
possible  the  expansion  and  evolution  of  industry  that 
have  resulted  in  the  altered  character  of  the  demand. 
It  is  possible  that  a  revolution  in  social  beliefs  has 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  entrance  of  women  into 
industry;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  undeniable  that  cer- 
tain industries,  employing  women  almost  exclusively  at 
wages  below  the  minimum  of  subsistence,  have  devel- 
oped because  of  the  opportunity  afforded   for  parasit- 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  133 

ism.  To  what  extent  the  entrance  of  women  into  in- 
dustrial occupations  has  actually  caused  displacement 
of  male  workers  is  yet  a  matter  of  profitless  specula- 
tion. That  it  has  had  an  effect  in  determining  the  quality 
as  well  as  the  quantity  of  the  labor  supply,  and  possibly 
has  reacted  upon  the  character  of  the  demand  for  labor, 
must  be  conceded.  Until  further  data  are  accumulated, 
the  quantitative  analysis  of  the  situation  is  impossible. 

More  definite,  from  the  standpoint  of  statistical  state- 
ment, is  the  relation  of  the  immigration  movement  to 
the  supply  of  labor.  "Their  (the  immigrants')  num- 
bers are  so  great  and  the  influx  is  so  continuous,"  said 
the  Federal  Immigration  Commission  in  its  conclusions, 
"that  even  with  the  remarkable  expansion  of  industry 
during  the  last  few  years,  there  has  been  created  an 
oversupply  of  unskilled  labor,  and  in  some  of  the  indus- 
tries this  is  reflected  in  a  curtailed  number  of  working 
days  and  a  consequent  yearly  income  among  the  un- 
skilled workers  which  is  very  much  less  than  is  indi- 
cated by  the  daily  wage  rates  paid."^*  The  New  York 
Commission  on  Employers'  Liability  and  Unemploy- 
ment stated  in  its  conclusions  that  "the  large  and  con- 
tinuous additions  to  the  laboring  population  of  the  state 
due  to  immigration  are  among  the  most  important  single 
causes  of  unemployment,"  and,  that  "immigration  no 
doubt  accounts  in  part  for  the  chronic  oversupply  of 
labor  revealed  by  the  statistical  evidence  we  have  pre- 
sented." ^°     This   report  took   pains   to   point  out  that 

"  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  i,  p.  39. 
"Third  Report,  1911,  pp.  7-8. 


134  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

during  the  ten  years  ending  June  30,  1910,  some  1,041,- 
570  immigrants  came  to  the  United  States.  Of  these 
three-fourths  entered  at  the  port  of  New  York,  and 
one-third  of  those  entering  at  New  York  gave  the  state 
of  New  York  as  their  ultimate  destination. 

The  extensive  investigations  of  the  Federal  Immigra- 
tion Commission  into  the  manufacturing  and  mining 
industries  of  the  country  led  it  to  conclude  that  there 
was  no  basic  industry  in  which  unskilled  immigrant 
laborers  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe  were  not 
largely  represented,  in  many  cases  constituting  more 
than  50  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  persons  em- 
ployed in  such  industries.  "Coincident  with  the  advent 
of  these  millions  of  unskilled  laborers,"  said  the  Com- 
mission, "there  has  been  an  unprecedented  expansion 
of  the  industries  in  which  they  have  been  employed. 
Whether  this  great  immigration  movement  was  caused 
by  the  industrial  development,  or  whether  the  fact  that 
a  practically  unlimited  and  available  supply  of  cheap 
labor  existed  in  Europe  was  taken  advantage  of  for 
the  purpose  of  expanding  the  industries,  can  not  well  be 
demonstrated."  ^^  Whatever  the  cause,  the  fact  seems 
to  be  thoroughly  established  that  unrestricted  and 
unguided  immigration  have  caused  unemployment,  both 
in  the  form  of  loss  of  working  time  and  of  economic 
insecurity,  among  the  workers  in  the  industries  into 
which  the  unskilled  immigrants  have  come  in  large 
numbers. 

It  is  proper  to  note  here  an  important  qualifying  con- 

>'  Supra  cil.,  p.  37. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  135 

dition.  The  problem  of  unemployment,  so  far  as  it  is 
a  result  of  cyclical  depressions,  is  mitigated  by  the  fluid- 
ity of  the  newer  immigrant  labor  supply.  A  factor  of 
no  mean  proportions  is  thus  provided  for  assisting  the 
natural  tendency  toward  an  equilibrium  of  the  supply 
and  demand  of  labor.  The  reports  of  the  Commis- 
sioner-General of  Immigration  indicate  wide  yearly  fluc- 
tuations in  immigration  which  correspond  so  closely 
to  the  well-known  periods  of  industrial  activity  and 
depression  that  they  are  often  included  in  business 
barometrics.  The  following  statistics  show  the  num- 
ber of  immigrants  admitted  each  year  since  1890:" 


Period  Period 

Year  ending  Year  ending 

June  30th  Number  June  30th  Number 

1890 455,302                  1903 857,046 

1891     560,319                  1904 812,870 

1892 579.663                  1905 1,026,499 

1893 439,730                  1906 1,100,735 

1894 285,631                  1907 1,285,349 

1895 258,536                  1908 782,870 

1896 343,267                  1909 751,786 

1897 230,832                  1910 1,041,570 

1898 229,299                  1911     878,587 

1899 311,715                  1912 838.172 

1900 448,572                  1913 1,387,318 

1901     487,918                  1914 688,495 

1902 648,743                  1915 256,678 


The  investigations  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Com- 
mission and  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of 
Immigration  conclusively  show  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion   of    newer    immigrants    are    merely    transient 

*'  Report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1915. 


136  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

dwellers  who  come  to  this  country  to  acquire  a  compe- 
tence and  then  return  to  their  home  countries.  When 
employment  is  not  available,  they  do  not  come;  when 
employment  ceases,  they  flock  back  to  Europe.  The 
European  emigration  into  the  United  States  in  the 
extremely  active  year  of  1907  showed  27,  per  cent,  of 
the  old  immigration  and  yy  per  cent,  of  the  new, 
whereas  the  difference  between  the  immigrants  of  these 
two  classes  leaving  the  United  States  in  the  inactive 
year  of  1908  was  still  more  pronounced,  those  of  the  old 
immigration  numbering  less  than  9  per  cent.,  while  the 
new  formed  over  90  per  cent.^^ 

The  fluidity  of  the  new  immigrant  labor  supply  is 
illustrated  by  statistics  obtained  in  a  study  of  Johns- 
town, Pa.,  a  typical  iron  and  steel  manufacturing  com- 
munity, for  1907  and  1908.  The  foreign-born  popula- 
tion in  1907  was  approximately  27,000.  In  the  year 
following,  when  the  depression  manifested  itself  locally 
by  a  50  per  cent,  curtailment  of  work  in  the  iron  and 
steel  plants,  the  foreign-born  population  dropt  to 
approximately  16,000,  or  40  per  cent.  It  is  signifi- 
cant to  note  that  the  migration  was  confined  almost 
entirely  to  workers  of  the  Croatian,  Hungarian,  Hebrew, 
Italian,  Magyar,  Polish,  Servian  and  Slovak  races, 
while  no  diminution  in  the  number  of  English,  Ger- 
man, Irish,  Scotch  and  Welsh  workers  was  noted.  Only 
about  two-thirds  of  the  employees  for  whom  data  show- 
ing irregularity  of  employment  were  obtained,  were 
found  to  have  worked  six  months  or  more  of  the  year 

^sjcnks  and  Lauck,  "The  Immigration  Problem"  (Third  Edition),  p.  36. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  137 

beginning  with  the  summer  of  1907,  and  less  than  one- 
fourth  worked  steadily  throughout  the  year. 

In  another  sense,  the  fluidity  of  the  newer  immi- 
grant supply  mitigates  the  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment. This  supply,  composed  largely  of  males  without 
families,  tends  to  go  to  localities  where  the  demand 
for  unskilled  labor  is  greatest,  so  far  as  existing  meth- 
ods of  distributing  the  supply  and  the  immigrant's 
own  knowledge  of  the  demand  permit.  Altho  lack 
of  adequate  machinery  for  the  artificial  distribution 
of  immigrants  has  resulted  in  the  congestion  of  the 
newer  immigrant  labor  supply  in  certain  sections  of  the 
country  and  in  certain  manufacturing  and  mining  indus- 
tries, the  ease  with  which  it  adjusts  itself  to  changes 
in  the  demand  for  labor  is  frequently  marked.  For 
example,  in  the  suspensions  of  work  in  the  anthracite 
field  in  1906  and  19 12  incident  to  the  making  of  new 
agreements  between  operators  and  miners,  it  was 
observed  that  the  possible  extent  of  the  idleness  occa- 
sioned was  in  both  instances  greatly  lessened  by  the 
emigration  of  numbers  of  newer  immigrant  miners  and 
their  migration  to  other  localities  in  the  bituminous 
and  steel  manufacturing  sections. ^^* 

Variations  in  the  Demand  for  Labor  Due  to  Fluctuations 
and  Irregularities  in  Industry 

In  addition  to  changes  in  industry  and  industrial 
organization  which  affect  the  character  of  the  demand 

'8*  Sydenstricker,  Edgar:  Collective  Bargaining  in  the  Anthracite  Industry, 
(U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Bulletin  191,  March,  1916),  pp.  52,  54. 


138  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

for  labor,  there  are  certain  variations  in  the  demand  for 
labor  that  are  due  to  the  conduct  of  industry.  The 
former,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  are  evolutionary 
changes ;  the  latter  are  due  to  factors  continually  present, 
and  result  in  a  more  or  less  constant  curtailment  of 
the  wage-earner's  opportunity  to  work  regularly. 
These  variations  may  be  classed  under  two  heads: 

1.  Fluctuations. 

2.  Irregularities. 

Fluctuations  are  changes  in  demand  that  have  been 
found  to  occur  and  recur  within  periods  of  more  or  less 
fixt  duration,  and  that  are  cyclical  and  seasonal.  The 
irregularities,  on  the  other  hand,  are  due  to  peculiari- 
ties in  industrial  organization  and  methods  of  operation 
and  management  in  certain  industries.  They  manifest 
themselves  in  the  sudden  closing  down  of  plants  be- 
cause of  business  failures  that  occur  every  year;  the 
piling  up  of  orders  for  speculation  or  other  purposes; 
short  time  contract  work;  the  practise  of  "hiring  and 
firing"  for  each  specific  piece  of  operation ;  the  main- 
taining of  labor  reserves  in  certain  plants,  etc. 

Some  of  these  variations  are  nation-wide;  others  are 
confined  to  certain  industries;  others  occur  in  certain 
localities  and  plants,  and  still  others  appear  to  happen 
in  localities  and  industries  without  any  determinant 
capable  of  definite  statement.  Altogether  they  render 
the  worker's  economic  status  insecure  from  almost 
every  angle.  The  fact  that  in  some  industries  the 
uncertainty  of  constant  employment  is  greater  than  in 
others  because  of  methods  peculiar  to  those  industries 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  139 

results  in  the  concentration  there  of  the  less  efficient, 
lower-paid  workers,  which,  in  turn,  aggravates  the  local 
problem  of  unemployment.  The  recurring  industrial 
depressions  sweep  still  more  workers  into  this  class, 
causing  a  frequent  and  cruel  readjustment  of  the  labor 
market.  The  unexpected  irregularities  that  come  from 
sudden  failures,  or  other  un forecasted  causes,  render 
the  opportunity  for  employment  still  more  fickle.  And 
to  these  should  be  added  the  thousands  of  individual 
cases  of  discharge  that  result  from  the  completion  of 
a  contract  by  a  plant,  the  decision  or  whim  of  an 
employer  without  regard  to  the  effects  upon  the  worker, 
and  many  contingencies  arising  under  a  competitive 
system  of  industry  which  force  employers  to  use 
measures  for  saving  immediate  expense  rather  than 
adopt  policies  of  sound  economy. 

A  worker  may  be  subject  continually  to  the  possible 
effects  of  all  these  fluctuations  and  irregularities;  cer- 
tainly he  is  at  all  times  subject  to  some  of  them.  The 
actual  way  in  which  each  of  them  affects  the  opportunity 
of  any  single  worker  for  constant  employment  is  so 
complex  that  it  is  not  possible  to  measure  the  relative 
force  of  it.  It  is  pertinent,  however,  to  gather  from 
the  great  abundance  of  published  material  on  various 
phases  of  the  subject  some  instances  of  these  fluctua- 
tions and  irregularities,  and  to  indicate,  wherever  the 
data  are  sufficient,  the  extent  to  which  the  worker's 
economic  security  is  weakened  by  these  causes. 

Fluctuations:  Cyclical. — Corresponding  to  the  alter- 
nate expansion  and   contraction   of   industrial   activity. 


I40  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

as  shown  by  the  familiar  cyclical  barometrics  of  busi- 
ness, is  an  alternate  rise  and  fall  of  the  average  per- 
centage of  unemployment,  as  shown  by  statistics  of 
unemployment.  These  alternations  denote,  of  course, 
changes  in  the  intensity  of  the  demand  for  workers. 
Without  entering  into  the  causes  of  cyclical  fluctua- 
tions in  demand,  it  is  important  to  note  their  extent 
as  exprest  in  the  form  of  lost  working  time  and 
unemployment. 

The  most  comprehensive  and  consistent  statistics  cov- 
ering a  series  of  years  are  afforded  by  data  secured 
from  trade  unions  and  published  by  the  New  York 
State  Department  of  Labor,  and  the  Massachusetts 
Bureau  of  Statistics.  Cyclical  fluctuations  in  employ- 
ment offered  in  coal  mining  are  indicated  by  the  famil- 
iar statistics  of  days  idle.  Other  data  are  suggested 
by  statistics  showing  the  number  of  employees  in  a  city 
or  a  state  from  year  to  year,  as  given  by  the  New 
York  Department  of  Labor;  the  total  amount  paid  in 
wages,  as  given  by  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics; and  the  figures  of  applications  for  jobs  as  given 
by  public  employment  offices. 

These  statistics  indicate,  for  example,  that  1904,  1908 
and  1913  were  periods  of  relatively  great  unemploy- 
ment, occurring  every  four  or  five  years.  "We  know 
that  1892  was  a  year  of  great  depression  in  industry," 
remarks  the  report  of  the  New  York  Commission's 
Committee    on    Unemployment,^^    "allho    we    have    no 

"Third  Report  of  the  New  York  Commission  on  Employer's  Liability  and 
Unemployment,   1911,  p.  43. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  141 

statistics  of  unemployment  for  that  year.  Thus  it 
appears  we  have  two  cycHcal  movements.  The  amount 
of  idleness  rises  and  falls  and  reaches  very  high  propor- 
tions approximately  every  15  years,  and  within  the 
greater  waves  there  are  smaller  fluctuations  with  dull 
years  recurring  every  four  or  five  years.  It  is  noted 
that  all  sources  of  information  show  the  same  move- 
ment." 

These  cyclical  fluctuations  do  not  appear  to  be  con- 
fined to  any  single  group  of  industries;  they  appear 
in  all.  This  fact  is  illustrated  in  the  following  table 
showing  the  monthly  mean  percentages  of  idleness  in 
the  state  of  New  York  by  industries  from  1908  to 
1914,  inclusive: 

IDLENESS  IN  LABOR  UNIONS  IN  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 
1908-1914,  BY  INDUSTRIES 
Industry  1914      1913      1912     1911      1910     1909     1908 

39.8  25.2  21.2  20.7  24.1  26.7  42.3 
13.5  9.4  7.5  19.9  14.0  23.8  31.0 

38.9  40.9  28.8  22.8  34.1  18.8  34.3 
20.2  10.5  11.4  24.0  7.7  13.7  29.0 
10.4  7.1  5.7  5.2  5.0  9.4  18.7 
32.4  21.7  17.8  19.4  10.5  13.3  33.2 


Building,  stone,  etc.     .  • 
Transportation 
Clothing  and  textiles  . . 
Metals,  machinery,  etc. 
Printing,  binding,  etc. 
Woodwork  and   furniture 
Food  and  liquors.. 

Tobacco  

Res.,  trade,  etc 

Stationary  engine  tending 
Miscellaneous 


12.5 

10.3 

9.9 

8.5 

12.8 

9.6 

11.0 

25.9 

10.0 

7.7 

12.8 

11.1 

12.4 

15.4 

13.5 

6.0 

5.3 

5.3 

5.4 

6.6 

11.1 

3.0 

2.1 

1.9 

1.8 

1.4 

1.6 

3.1 

24.4 

9.5 

7.1 

13.1 

14.5 

14.4 

22.0 

Fluctuations:  Seasonal. — It  is  a  familiar  fact  that 
unemployment  appears  to  be  greater  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  than  at  others.  Distress  among  unem- 
ployed persons  seems  to  be  the  most  acute  during  the 
winter  months,   altho  in  the  great  majority  of  manu- 


142  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

factoring  industries  the  maximum  employment  occurs 
in  the  winter.  The  apparent  inconsistency  is  to  be 
explained  in  part,  perhaps,  by  the  fact  that  shipping, 
agricultural  and  certain  industries  closely  allied  with 
agricultural  industries,  building  and  the  like,  have  their 
periods  of  extreme  activity  in  the  summer  months,  and 
that,  while  basic  manufacturing  industries  tend  to 
absorb  all  of  their  ordinary  available  supply  of  labor  in 
winter,  a  large  number  of  workers  in  the  other  indus- 
tries are  idle  at  the  very  period  of  the  year  when  the 
cost  of  living  is  at  the  highest  and  when  actual  suffering 
is  most  likely  to  occur.  Furthermore,  the  tendency  on 
the  part  of  workers  idle  in  winter  to  flock  to  the  larger 
cities  concentrates  unemployment  in  these  localities  at 
that  time  of  the  year. 

Just  how  many  more  workers  are  actually  unemployed 
in  one  season  of  the  year  than  at  others  can  not  be 
definitely  estimated  for  the  country  as  a  whole.  It  can 
be  determined  for  a  locality,  however,  because  the  fluc- 
tuations in  the  demand  for  labor  in  local  industries  is 
a  matter  capable  of  more  or  less  exact  estimate.  For 
monthly  or  seasonal  fluctuations  are  according  to  indus- 
try rather  than  locality. 

So  much  has  been  published  on  the  seasonal  phase 
of  the  unemployment  problem  that  it  is  impossible  to 
present  here  a  summary  of  all  of  the  available  data. 
A  conception  of  its  importance  as  a  cause  in  loss  of 
working  time,  unemployment  and  the  economic  inse- 
curity of  workers  in  some  of  the  larger  industries  will, 
it  is  believed,  be  afforded  by  typical  illustrations: 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  143 

VARIATION   IN   EMPLOYMENT   IN   CERTAIN   PRINCIPAL 

INDUSTRIES.  1909 

(Compiled  from  U.  S.  Census,   1910,  Vol.  viii) 

Wage-earners  employed  Per  cent. 

,, ^ ^  minimum  is 

Industry                               Maximum            Minimum  of  mintrntmi  "^^ 

month                    month  month 

Agricultural  implements   . .  Dec.  Aug.  81.0 

Boots  and  shoes Dec.  May  91.8 

Canning  and  preserving     . .  Sep.  Jan,  12.9 

Clothing,  men's     Dec.  Jan.  91.8 

Clothing,  women's        . .      . .  Oct.  July  80.6 

Furniture        Nov.  Jan.  88.2 

Cotton  goods        Dec.  July  49.3 

Glass        Dec.  Jan.  97.6 

Iron  and  steel      Dec.  Mar.  75.8 

Leather Dec.  May  91.0 

Printing Dec.  July  93.3 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods     . .  Nov.  Jan,  91.7 

Silk Mar.  July  95.8 

Sugar  refining       July  Jan.  79.7 

Tobacco Dec.  Jan.  91.6 

Woolen  and  worsted  . .      . .  Nov.  Jan.  91.0 

Fertilizers'      Mar.  July  48.7 

The  19 1 o  Census  exhibits  wide  differences  for  the 
principal  manufacturing  industries  in  the  number  of 
wage-earners  employed  in  the  different  months  of  the 
year.  In  1909  the  greatest  steadiness  of  employment 
was  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  goods.  Other  large 
industries  in  which  the  month  of  least  activity  was 
more  than  90  per  cent,  were  boots  and  shoes,  men's 
clothing,  leather  and  leather  goods,  printing,  hosiery 
and  knit  goods,  silk,  tobacco  and  woolen  and  worsted. 
The  women's  clothing,  furniture,  iron  and  steel  and 
sugar  refining  industries  show  a  relatively  large  degree 
of  fluctuation  in  the  number  of  employees.  Of  the 
larger  industries,  the  greatest  fluctuations  are  seen  in 
glass  and   fertilizer  manufacturing.     The  canning  and 


144  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

preserving  industry  is  conspicuously  a  seasonal  one,  and, 
as  the  Census  points  out,  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact 
that  the  canning  and  curing  of  fish  and  the  canning 
of  oysters  are  carried  on  to  some  extent  in  the  winter 
months,  the  variation  in  the  canning  industry  would 
appear  to  be  even  greater. 

A  better  idea  of  the  effect  of  seasonal  fluctuations  is 
gained  from  the  replies  received  from  191  trade  unions 
in  the  state  of  New  York  by  the  New  York  Commis- 
sion on  Employer's  Liability  and  Unemployment.  ^"^ 
According  to  these  replies,  the  following  trades  had 
slack  seasons  of  three  months :  Railroad  and  railway 
employees,  plumbers  and  steam  and  gas-fitters,  clothing 
and  textile  workers,  carpenters  and  joiners,  and  miscel- 
laneous building  employees.  Painters,  decorators  and 
paperhangers,  cement  workers,  masons  and  bricklayers, 
woodworkers,  tobacco  workers,  electrical  workers,  team- 
sters and  drivers,  molders  and  millwrights  had  slack 
seasons  of  from  four  to  five  months.  The  slack  sea- 
son for  longshoremen  and  brewery  employees  was  six 
months.  Stone  workers  had  no  work  at  all  for  three 
months  in  the  year  and  pavers  and  rammermen  no  work 
for  six  months.  The  same  report  stated  that,  in  the 
building  and  stoneworking  trades,  which  exhibit  in  a 
very  marked  manner  the  influence  of  weather  condi- 
tions, fully  one-third  of  the  workers  are  thrown  out 
of  employment  during  slack  seasons,  the  bricklayers 
and  plasterers  losing  the  most  time.  Fluctuation  in  the 
employment  of  transport  workers  is  due  to  the  closing 

"Third  Report,  1911,  p.   162. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  145 

of  the  navigation  season,  as  was  brought  out  in  the 
hearings  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  on 
the  New  York  Dock  Workers. 

The  glass  and  clay  products  industries  exhibit  dis- 
tinctly seasonal  fluctuations,  the  slack  season  coming 
during  the  summer.  In  New  Jersey,  for  example, 
during  191 2  the  number  of  employees  in  21  window 
glass  and  glass-bottle  factories  varied  from  between 
6,000  and  over  7,000  from  October  to  June,  reaching 
1,874  in  August.^^  In  brick  and  terra-cotta,  another 
important  New  Jersey  industry,  the  maximum  number 
of  employees  was  about  9,000  from  April  to  October, 
reaching  a  minimum  in  January  and  February  of  about 
6,700.^^  The  Massachusetts  statistics  for  19 13  show/ 
that  in  the  boot  and  shoe  factories  in  that  state  the 
total  number  of  employees  was  between  82,000  and 
85,000  from  November  to  March,  dropping  to  77,000 
approximately  in  June  and  showing  a  somewhat  dull 
season  from  April  through  October.  In  cotton  goods 
the  total  number  of  employees  was  between  116,000  and 
118,000  from  October  through  April,  the  period  from 
May  to  September  constituting  a  dull  period,  the  mini- 
mum being  109,000  in  August.^^ 

The  character  of  the  seasonal  demand  for  the  prod- 
uct as  a  cause  of  fluctuations  in  employment  is  illus- 
trated by  such  industries  as  clothing  (some  branches 
of  the  industry  more  than  others),  confectionery,  mil- 

**  Thirty-sixth  Annual  Report  of  New  Jersey  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor 
and  Industries,  p.   56. 

"Ibid.,  p.  48. 

**  Twenty-eighth  Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  Statistics  on  Statistics  of 
Manufacture,    1914. 


146  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

linery,  paper  boxes  and  the  like.  In  the  manufacture 
of  paper  boxes,  for  example,  there  is  a  busy  season 
ranging  from  a  few  weeks  to  two  or  three  months 
before  Christmas  and  a  shorter  rush  period  before 
Easter.  After  the  Christmas  rush  and  through  the 
summer  come  the  dull  times.  This  condition  is  spe- 
cially pronounced  in  the  manufacture  of  novelty  or 
fancy  boxes  and  hardly  noticeable  in  the  manufacture 
of  staple  boxes,  such  as  shoe  or  cigaret  boxes. ^'^ 

The  garment  industries  in  New  York  are  a  familiar 
instance  of  seasonal  fluctuation  in  employment.  "There 
are  about  six  months  of  activity,"  says  a  recent  report 
on  the  dress  and  waist  industry,"^  "four  in  the  spring  and 
two  in  the  fall,  half  of  them  carried  on  under  extreme, 
almost  feverish,  pressure,  followed  by  an  equal  period 
of  subnormal  activity  with  almost  complete  stagnation 
for  one  month  in  the  year."  The  two  "high  peaks" 
are  found  in  March  and  October,  while  the  lowest  point 
is  in  July.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the  fluctua- 
tion in  wages  is  greater  than  the  fluctuation  in  number 
of  employees.  For  example,  in  March,  it  was  found  that 
there  were  20  per  cent,  more  people  employed  than 
the  average  throughout  the  year,  but  wages  in  the  same 
month  rose  to  37  per  cent,  above  the  average — a  fact 
which  is  due  to  the  longer  working  hours  and  increased 
wages  during  the  rush  season.  Similarly,  in  the  slack 
season  employment  drops  to  60  per  cent,  of  the  aver- 
age, while  wages  go  down  as  low  at  53  per  cent.     Sea- 

"  Bureau  of  Labor,  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.  xviii,  pp. 
244-245. 

"  Bureau    of    Labor    Statistics,    Bulletin,    146. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  147 

soiial  fluctuation  in  the  clothing  industry  has  been 
observed  everywhere  where  an  investigation  has  been 
made.  Rush  seasons  and  overtime  work  in  the  cloth- 
ing factories  were  noted  by  the  Kentucky  Commission 
to  Investigate  Conditions  of  Working  Women,^^  as 
many  as  50  per  cent,  of  the  workers  being  laid  off  during 
slack  seasons  lasting  from  three  to  six  months,  while 
the  remainder  work  only  "short  days"  or  "short  weeks" 
or  both — a  condition  found  to  exist  in  New  York  City 
as  well  as  in  other  localities.  Testimony  before  the 
Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  showed  that  in 
Philadelphia  the  work  seasons  in  the  women's  gar- 
ment industry  totaled  seven  or  eight  months,  from 
August  to  November  and  from  February  to  April. 
Similar  testimony  corroborated  the  conditions  described 
above  for  New  York  City.  The  Federal  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  investigation  of  women  workers  in 
Indiana  garment  factories,  undertaken  in  cooperation 
with  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  and  the 
Indiana  Commission  on  Working  Women,  showed  that 
nearly  60  per  cent,  of  the  factories  reported  alternate 
periods  of  rush  and  slack  seasons.  In  these  factories 
nearly  50  per  cent,  of  the  women  garment  workers 
were  employed.  It  was  found  that  94  per  cent,  of  the 
6y  establishments  investigated  reported  a  normal  sea- 
son which  averaged  37  weeks  in  length  and  affected 
98.7  per  cent,  of  the  women,  and  that  56.6  per  cent,  of 
the  establishments  reported  a  dull  season  averaging  133^ 
weeks    in    duration,    affecting    43.8    per    cent,    of    the 

27  Report,  1911,  p.   16, 


148  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

women. ^^     Considerable  variation  was  shown  according 
to   the  branch  of  the  clothing   industry,   thus: 

NORMAL,     DULL    AND     BUSY     SEASONS     AS     REPORTED     FOR    67 

GARMENT     FACTORIES      IN      INDIANA,      GROUPED 

ACCORDING  TO  GARMENTS  MADE 

Per  cent,    of   establishments   reporting 


o  _  _  s;  o      -o 

rt  c  a  -o  "      ^ 

Garments  Manufactured  „  „g„S_-  .5 

rt>.       wg        rtS        «>>       ^S 

Pt-        Ert        fct^        Ei-<        art 

Eg      ES      Eji      ES     jag 

^     ^      ^      ;5 

Working-men's     clothes     (including 

overalls,  coats  and  work  shirts) a..  36.4  50.0  —  13.6  .... 

Cotton  gloves 55.6  22.2  5.6  16.6  .... 

Men's  custom-made  suits  and  over- 
coats         16.7  ....  50.0  33.3 

Men's  fine  shirts  and  furnishings     ..  55.6  22.2  —  22.2  — 

Women's  ready-made  clothing  ..     ..  22.2  33.3  11.1  22.2  11.1 

Women's  custom-made  clothing      ..  66.7  33.3 

Total 40.3    31.3      3.0    19.4      6.0 

a  One   establishment   also   makes   women's   ready-made    clothing. 

In  confectionery  manufacture  two  slack  seasons  are 
shown — one  in  July  and  another  at  the  end  of  Decem- 
ber and  in  January — in  which  large  numbers  of  em- 
ployees are  laid  off,^*  this  number  reaching  25  per  cent, 
after  the  Christmas  season  in  New  York  candy 
factories.^" 

The  retail  season  in  the  millinery  business  lasts  from 
February  until  after  Easter  and  from  August  until 
November,  according  to  the  New  York  Factory  Inves- 
ts Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin  No.  160,  pp.  62-64. 
"Massachusetts  Minimum  Wage  Commission,  Wages  of  Women  in  Candy 
Factories,  1914,  pp.  36-37;  Washington  State  Industrial  Welfare  Commission, 
1914,  p.  27. 

30  H.  B.  Woolston,  Survey,  February  6,  1915. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  149 

tigating  Commission's  data,  thus  allowing  but  six 
months'  employment  for  large  numbers  of  milliners 
divided  among  two  seasons.^^ 

In  mercantile  establishments — especially  in  depart- 
ment stores  and  five-  and  ten-cent  stores — the  seasonal 
fluctuation  in  employment  is  extremely  great.  The 
New  York  Factory  Investigating  Commission's  returns 
from  18  large  mercantile  establishments  in  New  York 
City  indicated  that,  during  the  busy  season  before 
Christmas,  56,000  were  employed  and  that  during  the 
summer  months  the  number  fell  to  35,000,  being  a  dis- 
placement of  nearly  50  per  cent,  on  the  basis  of  the 
average  number  employed.^^  The  testimony  on  depart- 
ment stores  in  New  York  City  before  the  Commission 
on  Industrial  Relations  furnished  a  number  of  instances 
of  this  seasonal  irregularity  of  employment.  Similar 
conditions  have  been  described  in  several  other  reports. 
In  cities  in  the  State  of  Washington,  "seasonal  open- 
ings" and  the  Christmas  season  made  necessary  the 
employment  of  extra  forces  for  a  period  ranging  from 
three  to  six  weeks,  while  in  the  slack  winter  season 
employees  w^ere  given  unpaid  "vacations"  two  weeks  to  a 
month  in  length.^^  The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
investigation  in  Indiana  cities,  conducted  in  cooperation 
with  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  and  the 
Indiana  Commission  on  Working  Women,  found  "that 
124,  or  88.6  per  cent.,  of  the  establishments  reported 
a  dull  season  averaging  15  1-6  weeks  and  affecting  86.7 

3',  32H.  B.  Woolston,  Survey,  February  6,  1915. 

^  Washington   State  Industrial  Welfare  Commission,   1914,  p.  7S. 


I50  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

per    cent,    of    the    prevailing    number    of    women    em- 
ployed." '' 

A  marked  variation  in  the  duration  of  the  dull  season 
and  in  the  number  of  women  afifected,  according  to 
locality,  appeared  thus : 

DULL  SEASONS  IN  SELLING  DEPARTMENTS  OF  DEPARTMENT  AND 
OTHER  RETAIL  STORES  IN  TEN  INDIANA  CITIES 

Establishments  Average 

reporting  dull      Women  affected        duration 

season  in  weeks 

Cities  Is^um-       Per  Num-  Per 

ber        cent.  bar  cent.o 

Indianapolis        26  92.9  1,715  94.2  15  2-3 

Terre  Haute       11  84.6  545  81.1  14  3-5 

Evansville 17  77.3  343  76.2  13 

Fort  Wayne       14  100.0  369  97.9  16  2-5 

South  Bend        14  93.3  342  85.1  15  3-4 

Muncie 11  84.6  239  90.5  13  1-3 

Hammond 3  75.0  53  23.0  12  1-6 

La  Fayette 8  100.0  230  95.8  20 

Richmond 13  92.9  154  98.1  15  1-2 

New  Albany       7  77.8  97  95.1  13  1-5 

Total     124       88J6       4^       867        15  1-6 

a  Based  on  prevailing  number  employed. 

Probably  no  more  striking  example  of  extremely  sea- 
sonal industries  exists  than  in  California.  While  the 
average  number  of  employees  engaged  in  canning,  for 
instance,  was  7,757  in  1909,  the  maximum  was  160,- 
607  in  August  and  the  minimum  2,781  in  February.  In 
the  lumber  industry,  employment  in  January  was  less 
than  half  of  what  it  was  in  July.  Manufacturing  is 
intricately  connected  with  agriculture,  since  vegetable 
and  fruit  growing,  and  canning  and  the  hop  industry 
are  so  predominant.  The  demand  for  labor  is  seasonal 
in  the  extreme,  and  a  permanent  settled  working  popu- 

**  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin,  160,  p.  IS. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  151 

lation,  with  inducements  and  opportunities  for  organ- 
ization being  lacking,  there  has  grown  up  a  general 
indifference  on  the  part  of  employers  and  careless  treat- 
ment of  employees. 

The  hearings  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions at  San  Francisco  emphasized  the  seasonal  char- 
acter of  employment.  The  cutting  season  for  aspara- 
gus begins  in  March  and  is  followed  by  the  canning 
season,  beginning  in  April  and  continuing  to  July.  The 
strawberry  season  begins  in  May  and  lasts  sometimes 
until  November.  The  season  for  peas  is  less  than  one 
month,  for  peaches  from  July  15th  to  October  ist,  and 
for  other  deciduous  fruits  about  three  weeks,  altho 
in  some  districts  by  rotating  the  crops  the  season  for 
deciduous  crops,  other  than  peaches,  is  extended  to  as 
long  as  six  weeks.  The  largest  canning  plants  in  San 
Francisco  do  not  operate  any  longer  than  from  April 
1st  to  December  ist,  altho  on  about  the  latter  dates  the 
season  for  citrus  and  olives  begins  and  some  canning 
employees  can  get  work  in  these  industries.  The  heavy 
rush  season  in  fruits  and  vegetables  comes  in  July, 
August  and  September,  while  the  canning  plants  and 
nearly  all  employment  stops  in  December,  January, 
February  and  March.  In  the  hop  industry  only  a 
few  are  employed  in  the  winter,  with  a  slight  increase 
from  February  until  the  middle  of  August,  when  har- 
vest time  starts  and  a  rush  season,  that  lasts  for  a 
month  or  six  weeks.  The  Horst  Company,  which  oper- 
ates a  number  of  ranches  in  California  and  does  20  per 
cent,  of  the  hop-growing  in  that  state,  employs  only 


152  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

about  150  people  in  the  winter,  in  the  spring  probably 
about  300  or  400,  and  in  harvest  time  about  1,500,  the 
harvest  force  being  unusually  small  because  this  company 
has  perfected  a  hop-picking  machine.  Wages  paid  by 
the  Horst  Company  are  fairly  illustrative,  not  only  of 
the  hop  industry,  but  also  of  other  similar  industries, 
since  the  labor  supply  is  so  mobile  and  competition 
among  industries  prevails  in  rush  seasons. 

Irregular  Employment. — It  is  difficult,  in  the  absence 
of  sufficiently  exact  data,  to  determine  how  much  unem- 
ployment and  loss  of  time  generally  are  due  to  seasonal 
fluctuations  in  the  activity  of  an  industry  within  any 
normal  year  and  how  much  to  irregularities  resulting 
from  the  conduct  of  industry.  In  the  foregoing  some 
of  the  clearest  cases  of  seasonal  fluctuations  have  been 
mentioned,  yet  in  practically  all  industries,  some  more 
than  others,  employment  is  irregular,  not  only  because 
of  the  seasonal  variations  which  can  be  foreseen,  but 
because  of  such  methods  and  conditions  as  the  necessity 
of  cutting  down  the  cost  of  production  (including  labor 
cost)  in  order  to  maintain  even  fair  profits,  the  prac- 
tise of  piling  up  orders,  contract  work,  irregular  work, 
such  as  dock  work  and  the  like. 

The  steel  industry  furnishes  an  excellent  example 
of  the  industrial  practise  that  results  in  irregularity  of 
employment  which  can  not  be  foreseen  by  the  worker 
and  which  is  so  peculiarly  a  menace  to  his  economic 
security  and  peace  of  mind.  The  Federal  investiga- 
tion of  1910  into  conditions  of  employment  in  iron  and 
steel  brought  out  very  clearly  the  policy  of  the  indus- 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  153 

try  to  "operate  at  its  fullest  capacity  during  active 
demand,  then,  during  a  decline  in  the  market,  to  shut 
down  completely  and  await  an  accumulation  of  orders  or 
the  development  of  better  prices."^^  Taking  the  five 
principal  departments  in  a  large  number  of  plants,  the 
report  presents  the   following  significant   statistics: 

Number   of   Weeks  Employees  in  each  period 

IN  Operation  , a ^ 

Number  Per  cent. 

Under  28  weeks 4,906  5.4 

28  to  32  weeks      2,287  2.5 

32  to  36  weeks       4,168  4.5 

36  to  40  weeks       8,559  9.4 

40  to  44  weeks       13,648  15.3 

44  to  48  weeks       23.015  25.4 

48  to  52  weeks      25,262  27.7 

52  weeks 8,912  9.8 

Totals       90,757  100.0 

Differences  in  regularity  of  operation  among  estab- 
lishments are  seen  in  practically  all  industries.  For 
instance,  in  a  single  locality,  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  in 
a  normal  year,  only  8i  per  cent,  of  the  silk  mills  oper- 
ated 300  days,  as  shown  by  the  following  tabulation 
compiled  from  the  Federal  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners'  report : 

NUMBER  OF  SILK  MILLS  IN  OPERATION  A  SPECIFIED  NUMBER  OF 
DAYS  DURING  A  NORMAL  YEAR  IN  PATERSON, 
NEW  JERSEY 
Number  of                       Establishments                        Employees 
Days  in   Operation          Number       Per  cent.       Number          Per  cent. 
, ' ,      , ' ^ 

•       300  days  and  over  ..  112  812  12.417  79.9 

275  days  to  299  days  18  13.0  2,301  14.8 

250  days  to  274  days  4  2.9  629  4.1 
225  days  to  249  days 

Under  225  days        ..  4  2.9  193  1.2 

*'  Report  on  the  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry, 
Vol.  jii,  p.  206. 


154  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Or,  in  a  large  plant,  as  shown  in  the  following  sta- 
tistics giving  the  number  of  employees  on  the  pay-roll 
of  a  Chicago  meat-packing  company  at  the  end  of  each 
four-week  period  throughout  a  year  :^® 

FLUCTUATIONS  IN  EMPLOYMENT,  COMPANY  2 

Date  Number  of  -Qktz  Number  of 

Employees  Employees 

November  20      . .      . .  6,523  June  4 5,641 

December  18       ..     ..  7,041  July  2 5,847 

January  15,  1910        . .  6,799  July  30 6,272 

February  12        . .     . .  6.317  August  27 6,520 

March  12     6,119  September  24      ..     ..  6,754 

April  9 5,862  October  22 7,046 

May  7 5,702 

Twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  workers  in  this  estab- 
lishment alone  were  unemployed  during  the  year,  and 
in  some  departments,  as  Mr.  Kennedy  remarked,  approxi- 
mately one- third  of  the  time  of  the  worker  was  lost 
through  unemployment.  The  differences  in  the  steadi- 
ness of  employment  in  different  occupations  and  depart- 
ments of  plants  in  various  industries,  such  as  in  Massa- 
chusetts brush  and  candy  factories  and  iron  and  steel 
manufacturing,  have  already  been  alluded  to.  In  many 
industries  the  manufacturing  end  has  been  made  subject 
to  the  selling  end.  The  activity  of  the  sales  staff  is 
really  the  barometer  of  the  activity  of  the  plant.  The 
result  is  that  instead  of  attempting  to  secure  a  steady 
flow  of  orders — and  the  kind  of  orders  that  will  make 
possible  a  steady  output — emphasis  has  been  laid  on  the' 
developing  of  a  sales  department  or  staff  that  will  "get 
orders"  regardless  of  the  effects  of  this  irregularization 

""John  C.  Kennedy:  Wages  and  Family  Budgets  in  the  Cliicago  Stockyards 
District. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  155. 

of  industry  on  the  efficiency  of  the  manufacturing  force 
or  the  welfare  of  the  workers.  Closely  allied  with  this 
practise — and  in  many  instances  a  direct  result  of  it — is 
carrying  on  the  pay-rolls  a  larger  number  of  workers 
than  can  be  afforded  steady  work  all  the  time.  In 
some  cases,  as  is  well  known,  the  manufacturer  prefers 
to  keep  workers  on,  even  tho  they  can  not  earn 
full-time  wages,  rather  than  discharge  them.  This  is 
done  not  only  in  periods  of  inactivity,  but  all  the  time, 
from  the  best-intentioned  motives,  altho  the  economic 
soundness  of  the  practise  is  open  to  serious  question. 
In  other  cases  the  manufacturer  deliberately  adopts  this 
plan  for  the  purpose  of  having  on  hand  a  reserve  of 
labor  on  which  he  can  draw  at  any  time  that  the  market 
for  his  production  may  warrant  it. 

How  far  differences  in  steadiness  of  employment  are 
due  to  the  practise  of  individual  establishments  and 
how  far  to  modern  industrial  organization  and  methods 
is  difficult  of  determination.  The  two  are  bound 
together  more  because  of  a  single  condition,  perhaps, 
than  for  any  other  reason  or  reasons,  which  may  be 
described  as  a  necessity — as  distinguished  from  the  mere 
desire  or  aim — of  cutting  down  the  cost  of  production 
in  manufacturing.  Overcapitalization  of  certain  indus- 
tries, it  has  been  claimed,  renders  necessary  the 
seizing  of  every  opportunity  to  cut  down  operating 
cost  in  order  to  pay  dividends,  even  tho  the  industry  be 
practically  controlled  by  a  single  corporation  or  group 
of  employers.  That  competitive  conditions  bring  about 
the  same  necessity  is  a  familiar  fact.     It  was  brought 


156  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

out  in  testimony  at  the  hearings  of  the  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations  at  Butte,  for  instance,  that  some 
mines  operate  steadily  all  summer  and  others  work  only 
two  or  three  weeks.  The  Bear  Creek  miner,  it  was 
stated,  worked  steadily  during  the  summer  but  for  only 
two  or  three  days  a  week.  The  reason  assigned  for 
curtailments  was  "danger  of  overproduction"  because 
the  Montana  miners  were  in  close  competition  with  the 
mines  in  surrounding  States.^'^  In  fact,  the  generaliza- 
tion is  probably  warranted  that  any  condition  in  indus- 
trial organization  or  methods  necessitating  the  cutting 
down  of  labor  cost  is  apt  to  result  in  irregularity  of 
employment.  "It  is  obvious,"  says  Mr.  Beveridge,  "that 
so  long  as  the  industrial  world  is  split  up  into  separate 
groups  of  employers — each  group  with  a  life  of  its  own 
and  growing  or  decaying  in  ceaseless  attrition  upon  its 
neighbors — there  must  be  insecurity  of  employment. 
.  .  .  Unemployment,  in  other  words,  is  to  some 
extent  at  least,  part  of  the  price  of  industrial  compe- 
tition— part  of  the  waste  without  which  there  could  be 
no  competition  at  all."^^ 

Other  conditions  in  industrial  organization  and  prac- 
tise, which  may  or  may  not  be  related  to  the  condi- 
tions mentioned  above,  result  in  irregularity  of  employ- 
ment. The  contract  system,  such  as  prevails  in  build- 
ing, is  undoubtedly  a  prolific  cause  of  lost  working  time 
and  lack  of  "jobs."  Not  even  the  highly  developed 
organization  of  labor  and  its  limitation  of  the  supply  of 

"Butte  Hearings. 

•8  Unemployment,  A  Problem  of  Industry,  p.  235. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  157 

skilled  labor  in  any  given  trade  are  sufficient  to  prevent 
irregularity  of  employment  even  during  "seasons"  of 
work,  altho  the  success  of  a  union  in  raising  the 
rate  of  wages  may  discount  the  loss  of  wages  through 
unemployment  and  provide  an  adequate  annual  family 
income.  This  system  of  a  large  number  of  labor  mar- 
kets— a  number  as  great  as  the  total  number  of 
employees — is  not  only  nation-wide,  but  it  is  to  be  found 
in  almost  every  industry  and  every  locality.  The  well- 
known  conditions  among  the  dock  workers  in  London 
and  Liverpool  find  a  counterpart,  for  example,  among 
the  dock  workers  of  New  York  City,  except  for  the 
fact  that  conditions  are  much  worse  in  the  American 
port. 

The  situation  was  brought  out  in  a  graphic  manner 
by  testimony  before  the  Commission  on  Industrial 
Relations  at  its  hearings  on  the  dock  workers  of  New 
York  City.  From  one-third  to  ten  times  as  many  work- 
ers were  seeking  employment  as  were  actually  employed 
or  needed,  the  hiring  being  done  by  stevedores,  who, 
it  was  charged,  are  unfair  in  distributing  the  available 
employment.  Altho  the  hours  of  hiring  were  seven,  one 
and  seven  o'clock,  men  were  "hired  and  fired"  at  all 
hours.  There  is  not  only  no  certainty  as  to  the  time  of 
employment  and  irregularity  in  the  seasonal  demand 
for  labor,  but  there  is  no  certainty  for  the  great  major- 
ity of  men  as  to  the  length  of  time  a  single  job  will 
last.  In  order  to  earn  $9  or  $10  a  week,  representing 
three  or  four  days  labor,  the  men  are  compelled  to 
spend  practically  all  of  their  time,  including  Sundays, 


158  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

at  the  piers.  The  rush  for  "preference  checks"  at  the 
Hoboken  docks,  for  instance,  is  so  great  at  times  the 
men  are  beaten  back  with  water  hose  and  clubs.  The 
desire  to  lower  the  cost  of  handling  freight,  and  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  way  the  tonnage  happens  to  come  in 
(a  condition  worse  in  New  York  than  in  Liverpool, 
because  the  tides  in  Liverpool  are  a  regularizing  factor), 
and  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  unemployed  workers 
from  other  industries  to  concentrate  where  the  chance 
of  employment  is  greatest,  are  factors  that  are  funda- 
mental. 

The  familiar  spectacle  of  crowds  of  men  at  the  gates 
of  steel  mills  every  morning  is  but  another  illustration 
of  the  system  of  haphazard  employment  of  unskilled 
workers  that  is  seen  in  its  extreme  form  in  the  employ- 
ment of  dock  workers.  The  gangs  of  laborers  that 
are  used  in  iron  and  steel  plants,  as  well  as  in  other 
large  establishments  where  unskilled  workers  are  em- 
ployed to  a  considerable  extent,  are  not  only  employed 
temporarily  for  a  few  hours,  a  few  days,  or  a  few 
weeks,  but  are  rarely  composed  of  the  same  individuals 
for  more  than  one  "job."  The  use  of  this  system — or 
lack  of  system — in  employment  was  clearly  brought  out 
by  witnesses  before  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions in  its  hearings  on  labor  conditions  in  the  Chicago 
stockyards. 

It  was  shown  that  a  large  proportion  of  stockyards 
employees  were  unskilled  and  were  employed  from  day 
to  day.  A  group  "would  assemble  every  morning  and 
the  employment  agent  would  pick  out  the  number  that 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  159 

they  (the  employers)  thought  they  needed  for  that 
day,"  stated  one  witness  who  had  made  a  careful  inves- 
tigation of  labor  conditions  in  the  industry.  "They  do 
not  hire  these  unskilled  laborers  by  contract,  for  a  week,  / 
or  a  month,  or  a  year,  or  anything  of  that  sort.  A  man 
never  knows  whether  he  is  hired  for  an  hour  or  for  a 
week."^'^  One  of  the  largest  employers  in  the  stock- 
yards admitted  that  probably  25  per  cent,  of  the  em- 
ployees are  subject  to  irregular  employment  on  account 
of  irregular  receipts  of  live-stock  at  the  yards.^*^  Accord- 
ing to  the  statement  of  the  general  superintendent  of 
the  packing  plants  of  Armour  &  Company,  the  actual 
method  of  hiring  is  as  follows :  There  is  an  employ- 
ment bureau  at  each  plant,  under  supervision  of  the 
superintendent  or  assistant  superintendent.  The  man 
in  charge  receives  a  request  each  morning,  or  preferably 
the  night  before,  showing  the  number  and  kind  of  men 
needed  by  the  foremen  in  the  various  departments.  The 
employing  is  concluded  about  8  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  any  who  are  waiting  are  notified  that  they  are  not 
needed.  The  number  who  appear  in  the  morning  at 
each  plant  is  sometimes  as  great  as  two  or  three  hun- 
dred. A  man  is  given  a  new  check  number  each  time 
he  is  hired,  no  matter  whether  he  is  an  old  employee 
or  not,  but  the  attempt  is  now  being  made  to  give  old 
employees  the  preference.  Altho  some  care  is  used  in 
the  selection  of  men  for  certain  kinds  of  work,  the  men 

"  John  C.  Kennedy.  Transcript  of  the  Public  Hearings  of  the  U.  S.  Commis- 
sion on  Industrial  Relations  on  Life  and  Labor  Conditions  in  the  Stockyards, 
Chicago,  April  15-16,   1915. 

**  J.   Ogden   Arn?our,  ibid. 


i6o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

are  selected  from  the  waiting  groups  by  "tapping  them 
on  the  shoulder."  It  was  stated  that  the  principal  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  employing  the  same  individuals  from 
day  to  day  was  that  those  who  were  regularly  employed 
soon  were  able  to  do  more  skilled  work.^*  A  union 
official  charged  that  even  those  engaged  in  regular  occu- 
pations and  earning  as  much  as  $1.85  a  day  were 
discharged  upon  the  excuse  that  work  was  slack,  and 
that  others  would  be  hired  the  next  day  to  do  their 
work  at  reduced  wages.^" 

In  a  different  category,  perhaps,  from  the  loss  of 
working  time  and  unemployment  due  to  conditions 
referred  to  above,  are  conditions  that  result  in  lost 
time  by  those  who  are  regularly  employed.  These  con- 
ditions are  familiar  to  every  factory  worker.  Piece- 
workers in  the  New  York  dress  and  waist  industry,  for 
instance,  were  found  to  lose  working  time  on  account 
of  certain  prevailing  practises  in  shop  management,  such 
as  waiting  for  work,  waiting  for  parts,  waiting  for 
repairs  on  machines,  or  cleaning  or  repairing  machines 
by  the  workers  themselves,  and  time  taken  to  receive 
instructions  from  the  foremen  or  instructors  as  to  the 
way  the  work  should  be  done.  The  workers  do  not 
get  paid  for  time  spent  in  these  ways,  and  their  amount 
of  possible  working  time  is  reduced.  In  addition  to 
these  practises,  are  loss  of  time  due  to  the  necessity 
for  attending  to  personal  needs  and  in  repairing  defects 
in  work  returned  by  examiners.     Loss  of  working  time, 

«John  E.  O'lTern,  ibid. 

«  Dennis  I^ne,  General  OrRanizer  for  Amalgamated  Meat  Cutters  and 
Butcher   Workers  of  North   America,  ibid. 


IN   ^AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  i6i 

due  to  conditions  such  as  the  above  in  the  New  York 
dress  and  waist  industry,  was  found  to  amount  in  some 
instances  of  workers  who  were  carefully  observed  to 
as  much  as  30  per  cent  of  the  total  possible  time,  while 
the  average  for  all  of  the  workers  for  whom  data  were 
obtained  was  approximately  5  per  cent.,  the  lost  time 
varying  with  the  occupation  as  well  as  with  the 
individual. 

The  problem  of  unemployment,  or  irregularity  of 
employment  or  unemployment,  is  not  concerned  in  these 
conditions,  of  course;  the  conditions,  however,  have  the 
same  effect,  in  the  case  of  piece-workers,  as  lost  earn- 
ings.*^ The  practise  of  "leveling  wages,"  so-called,  of 
piece-workers  is  also  a  familiar  one  and  less  defensible. 
To  borrow  a  graphic  illustration  from  a  recent  article  :*^ 
"Molly  Brown  is  engaged  on  piece-work  and  has  been 
in  the  habit  of  making  eight  dollars  a  week.  If  dur- 
ing the  first  four  days  of  the  week  she  is  given  what  are 
known  as  *fat  jobs'  and  has  already  earned  her  eight 
dollars  by  Thursday  night,  the  forewoman  sees  to  it 
that  she  gets  little  or  no  work  on  Friday  or  Saturday. 
Why?  Because  if  Molly  should  earn  nine  dollars  or 
perhaps  ten  dollars  at  piece  rate  this  week,  the  fore- 
woman is  afraid  that  she  will  begin  to  rate  herself  as 
a  nine-dollar  or  ten-dollar  girl  and  that  would  be 
troublesome.  The  net  result  from  an  economic  stand- 
point is  two  days  of  unemployment." 

"  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Bulletin,  146,  Wages  and  Employment  in  the 
Dress  and  Waist  Industry,  pp.  284-85. 

**  Casual  and  Chronic  Unemployment,  by  M.  L.  Cooke,  Director,  Department 
of  Public  Works,  Philadelphia,  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Science  and 
Political  Science  lix;  p.  195;  May,  1915. 


i62  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

While  the  employer's  motive  in  such  an  instance  may 
be  to  prevent  the  setting  of  a  precedent  in  earnings 
that  might  form  a  standard  undesirably  high  from  his 
point  of  view,  the  practise  results  not  only  in  restrict- 
ing wages  to  a  low  level  by  means  of  removing  the 
opportunity  to  earn  higher  wages,  but  in  necessitating 
the  presence  of  another  worker  to  do  the  work  that 
might  be  done  by  one.  The  actual  situation  in  a  number 
of  cotton-mill  families  was  clearly  shown  in  the  budget- 
ary studies  made  in  the  course  of  the  Woman  and 
Child  Labor  Investigation  a  few  years  ago.  Altho 
the  mills  in  which  the  wage-earners  of  these  families 
were  employed  were  operated  steadily  throughout  the 
year,  the  weekly  family  income  in  all  instances  rose  and 
fell  in  wide  variations  throughout  the  year.  In  one 
week  a  family  would  have  a  competence;  for  the  next 
two  weeks  its  income  would  be  below  what  was  found 
to  be  sufficient  for  a  fair  standard  of  living.  Part  of 
this  fluctuation  in  income  was  due  to  disabilities  and 
voluntary  idleness,  but  the  workers  complained  that 
the  management  of  the  mills  kept  more  workers  on 
the  pay-rolls  than  was  necessary. 

At  the  basis  of  the  conditions  that  result  in  irregu- 
larity of  employment  (as  distinguished  from  the  more 
or  less  regular  cyclical  and  seasonal  fluctuations)  lies  a 
fact  whose  significance  can  not  be  overlooked  in  a  con- 
sideration of  the  causes  of,  the  wage-earner's  loss  in 
working  time.  This  fact  is  the  attitude  of  the  modern 
employer  toward  the  workers.  There  are  strong  rea- 
sons in  the  evolution  of  industry  for  him  to  have  gradu- 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  163 

ally  adopted  the  point  of  view  from  which  he  looks  upon 
the  workers  as  the  supply  of  labor  in  a  strictly  imper- 
sonal sense,  to  regard  it  not  even  quantitatively,  but  as 
a  force  which  means  so  much  productive  power  in  the 
same  sense  as  the  steam  or  electricity  that  he  requires 
to  give  motive  power  to  his  machines.  This  force 
may  be  a  small  number  of  regular  efficient  workers 
or  a  large  number  of  changing,  irregular  workers  whose 
efficiency  reaches  a  maximum  for  only  a  given  period. 
The  development  of  mechanical  processes,  however, 
has  tended  to  make  it  possible  for  a  larger  proportion 
of  unskilled  and  semi-skilled  workers  to  constitute  the 
working  force  than  ever  before,  and  the  incentive  which 
once  existed  in  the  handcraft  period  of  industry  to 
retain  individual  workmen  has  nearly  passed  away.  The 
impersonal  employer — the  corporation — has  removed 
the  opportunity  for  intimate  relationship  between  man 
and  master. 

The  fierce  competition  of  manufacturers  in  the 
national  markets  of  to-day  has  forced  employers  to 
abandon  many  practises  that  once  were  of  manifold 
benefits  to  their  employees,  among  them  being  the  em- 
ployment in  any  given  plant  of  a  group  of  workers 
who  consisted  pretty  much  of  the  same  individuals 
and  of  the  same  number  of  individuals  from  month  to 
month  and  from  year  to  year.  The  "reserve  of  labor" 
which  is  regarded  as  necessary  in  probably  the  great 
majority  of  modern  industrial  plants  is  evidence  enough 
of  the  altered  viewpoint  of  the  employer.  The  labor 
reserve  of  almost  any  locality  in  the  United   States — 


i64  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

in  fact,  the  presence  of  a  great  labor  reserve  in  the 
nation  as  a  whole — makes  it  possible  for  industries 
paying  low  wages  or  offering  extremely  irregular  em- 
ployment at  high  wages,  to  be  called  into  existence 
by  a  demand  for  products  that  under  different  condi- 
tions would  be  insufficient  to  admit  of  the  financial  suc- 
cess of  their  undertaking  and  operation. 

The  existence  of  such  conditions  as  have  been  referred 
to  in  the  foregoing  pages  postulates  an  attitude  that 
places  human  labor  more  and  more  in  the  category  of 
mechanical  power.  Without  discussing  here  the  degree 
in  which  the  employer  is  to  blame,  or  in  which  he  is 
himself  a  victim  of  an  industrial  system,  the  fact  of 
such  an  attitude  is  fundamental  to  the  entire  problem  of 
those  modern  conditions  under  which  they  who  have 
human  labor,  physical  rather  than  mental,  as  their  sole 
stock  in  trade,  must  work  and  live  and  perform  their 
functions  as  integers  of  society.  Certainly  it  has  a  very 
definite  bearing  upon  regularity  of  employment  as  one 
of  these  conditions. 

Conditions  Determining  the  Worker's  "Ability  to 
Grasp  or  Retain  the  Opportunity  to  Be  Employed 
Which  Industry  Offers. — In  the  statement  by  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Labor  "  of  the  causes  of  loss  of  working  time 
by  over  12,000  of  wage-earners'  families,  it  was  seen  that 
the  closing  of  plants,  slack  work,  inability  to  get  work 
and  accidents  were  stated  to  be  the  causes  of  idleness 
in  about  52  per  cent,  of  cases  of  heads  of  families, 
while  sickness  of  worker  was  the  cause  in  about  23  per 

«»See  p.  113. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  165 

cent,  of  cases  of  heads  of  families.  Furthermore,  sick- 
ness, together  with  closing  of  plants,  slack  work  or 
inability  to  get  work,  was  the  cause  in  over  6  per  cent, 
more.  Voluntary  vacation  was  the  cause  in  about  6^ 
per  cent,  of  cases,  while  strikes  were  responsible  for 
loss  of  time  in  but  2  per  cent,  of  cases.  The  importance 
of  ill  health  as  a  cause  of  loss  in  working  time  can  not 
be  overlooked — as  it  frequently  has  been — in  a  consid- 
eration of  the  problem  of  unemployment.  The  heads 
of  families,  approximately  3,000,  who  were  idle  during 
the  year  on  account  of  ill  health  lost  on  an  average 
very  closely  to  four  weeks'  time. 

These  statistics,  however,  are  based  chiefly  on  the 
experience  of  workers  who  are  capable  of  fairly  regu- 
lar employment.  The  causes  of  idleness,  as  stated  by 
12,000  selected  heads  of  wage-earners'  families,  do  not 
include  a  number  of  other  causes  that  result  in  the 
inability  of  the  worker  to  grasp  or  retain  the  opportu- 
nity for  employment  which  industry  actually  offers. 
Among  these  have  been  mentioned  old  age,  deficien- 
cies in  the  industrial  training  of  the  worker,  lack 
of  facilities  to  bring  the  worker  and  the  job  to- 
gether, and  conditions  resulting  in  the  immobility  of 
the  labor  supply  and  causes  affecting  industrial  workers, 
such  as  dishonesty,  laziness,  intemperance,  irregularity, 
"shiftlessness"  and  stupidity,  which  are  commonly 
included  under  the  general  term  "deficiencies  of  char- 
acter." "Between  individual  workmen  even  of  the 
same  type,"  as  Mr.  Beveridge  remarks,  "there  exist  dif- 
ferences of  every  kind  and  degree.    In  the  men  of  each 


i66  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

trade  is  to  be  found  every  gradation  of  industrial  value. 
Some  differences  affect  the  most  obvious  technical  quali- 
ties; one  man  is  stronger  or  speedier,  or  more  intel- 
lectual, or  more  skilled  than  another.  Others  affect  the 
less  obvious  qualities  which  make  for  continuance 
in  employment — assiduity,  regularity,  punctuality,  power 
of  obedience  and  cooperation.  Others  affect  rather 
the  power  to  pass  from  one  type  of  work  to  another, 
i.e.,  adaptability.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  exist- 
ence of  these  differences,  or  as  to  their  effect  in  deter- 
mining the  incidence  of  unemployment.*^  Workers  are 
unequal  in  efficiency,  and  "to  them  competition  deals 
out  stern  justice" — to  borrow  the  language  of  Mr. 
Charles  Booth — "whatever  the  cause  of  their  ineffi- 
ciency may  be."^^ 

The  potency  of  any  or  all  of  the  factors  named  above 
— except,  perhaps,  sickness,  accidents,  and  old  age  in  a 
limited  way — as  causes  of  idleness  can  not  as  yet  be 
statistically  computed.  That  they  are  potent  is  unques- 
tioned. The  fact  is  that  cyclical  and  seasonal  fluctua- 
tions and  irregularities  in  the  demand  for  labor  con- 
tinually cause  some  workers  to  be  laid  off  and  that  some 
workers  are  kept  on  more  or  less  regularly.  Whether 
or  not  a  worker  is  to  be  among  those  dropt  or  among 
those  to  be  retained  is  determined  largely  by  the  employ- 
er's opinion  of  his  efficiency.  Even  if  he  is  efficient, 
sickness  or  old  age  will  overtake  him,  and  he  may  lose  in 
the  one  case,  and  certainly  in  the  other,  his  economic 

"Unemployment;  A  Problem  of  Industry,  p.  138. 
*^Lifc  and  Labour  of  the  People. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  167 

status.  The  economic  security  of  an  individual  worker 
is  determined  by  the  factors  which  make  or  mar  his 
abihty  to  grasp  or  retain  the  opportunity  to  work  that 
industry  offers,  just  as  it  is  determined  by  the  factors 
which  govern  the  available  employment,  altho  the  rela- 
tive effects  of  these  causes,  as  exprest  in  working  time 
lost,  can  only  be  stated  in  a  general  way. 

The  social  aspect  of  individual  deficiencies,  however, 
suggests  an  important  consideration  with  regard  to  the 
conditions  that  cause  them.  Individual  differences  may 
be — and  often  are — caused  by  industrial  and  social  con- 
ditions. How  far  the  worker's  inability  to  retain  em- 
ployment, even  when  it  can  be  retained,  such  as  dis- 
honesty, laziness,  stupidity  and  the  like,  are  the  outcome 
of  his  social  inheritance  and  environment,  is  of  course 
a  matter  of  speculation  as  yet.  But  there  is  a  growing 
belief  that  intemperance  on  the  part  of  the  worker  is 
the  fault,  at  least  partly  the  fault,  of  the  community 
and  sometimes  of  the  industry.  Sickness,  it  has  been 
found,  is  due  not  merely  to  the  individual's  carelessness 
as  to  his  health  and  ignorance  of  how  to  preserve  it, 
but  to  conditions  under  which  he  must  work,  as  well 
as  conditions  under  which  he  must  live,  which  he  could, 
and  would,  improve  if  he  had  sufficient  and  regular 
enough  wages. 

Old  age  is  usually  recognized  as  a  constant  factor; 
but  the  question  may  well  be  asked  if  the  demand 
for  young  men  in  certain  industries  and  occupations 
and  the  strain  of  work  and  insufficiency  of  living  in 
making  men  "old  before  their  time,"  are  not  conditions 


i68  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

that  cause  an  unnaturally  high  proportion  of  unemployed 
or  casual  workers  among  those  who  ought  to  be  able 
to  retain  w^hat  opportunity  there  exists  to  earn  a  fair 
living.  Too  much  charity  tends  to  destroy  the  worker's 
incentive  to  be  employed  and  to  weaken  his  self-reliance. 
Certainly  the  absence  of  adequately  developed  vocational 
training  which  permits  so  many  young  workers  to  enter 
"blind  alleys"  is  a  condition  which  is  well  recognized 
as  a  shortcoming  of  social  responsibility.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  conditions  rendering  the  labor  supply 
too  immovable  to  respond  fully  to  the  evolutionary 
changes  and  to  fluctuations  and  irregularities  in  the 
demand  for  labor,  are  not  deficiencies  in  the  character 
or  ability  of  the  worker;  and  the  need  for  an  efficient 
system  of  labor  exchanges  for  the  purpose  of  equaliz- 
ing, as  far  as  possible,  the  demand  and  the  available 
efficient  supply,  is  already  felt  to  be  an  obligation  rest- 
ing upon  society.  Furthermore,  the  loss  of  working 
time  itself,  interpreted  in  terms  of  reduced  wages,  and 
the  irregularity  of  employment  and  all  economic  insecur- 
ity, are  not  the  least  among  the  causes  of  the  worker's 
physical  and  mental  ability  to  obtain  employment.  All 
of  the  direct  effects  of  unemployment  are  in  themselves 
causes  of  unemployment,  and  these  form  a  vicious 
circle  into  which  a  large  proportion  of  workers  are 
constantly  being  entangled  and  from  which  they  are 
cast  aside  into  that  "scrap  heap"  which,  in  the  parlance 
of  discussions  of  the  problem,  contains  the  "unemploy- 
ables." 

There   is   no   longer   any   doubt   that   certain   specific 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  169 

conditions  in  the  industry  which  affect  the  worker's 
ability  to  retain  his  employment  are  already  recognized 
as  coming  within  this  social  conception  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  them.  These  specific  conditions  are  occupa- 
tional diseases  and  accidents.  As  yet  the  question  of 
whether  occupational  diseases  can  be  distinguished,  so 
far  as  causes  and  the  responsibility  for  them  are  con- 
cerned, from  the  general  problem  of  the  wage-earner's 
health,  is  not  settled.  The  undoubted  tendency  in  other 
countries  is  to  recognize  it  as  a  problem  of  labor  that 
must  be  met  by  the  employer  and  the  public  as  well 
as  by  the  employee. 

Effects  of  Unemployment 

Loss  of  working  time,  irregularity  of  employment  and 
the  entire  series  of  conditions  which  have  been  reviewed 
in  the  foregoing  pages  as  constituting  what  is  commonly 
called  the  problem  of  unemployment,  have  for  their 
general  result  the  economic  insecurity  of  the  worker. 
Because  of  different  conditions  in  the  various  trades, 
occupations,  industries  and  localities,  this  economic  inse- 
curity is  more  intense  among  some  workers  than  among 
others.  A  large  class  of  workers  truthfully  may  be 
said  to  possess  no  security  at  all.  Their  means  of 
livelihood  in  the  present  is  irregular  in  the  extreme, 
even  casual;  their  future  livelihood  is  not  simply  uncer- 
tain, it  is  almost  hopeless. 

Such  a  condition  of  insecurity  can  not  exist,  of  course, 
without  causing  some  very  unwholesome  results  from 
the  standpoint  not  only  of  the  worker,  but  also  of  the 


170  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

employer  and  of  society.  What  have  been  alluded  to  as 
causes  of  unemployment  and  loss  in  working  time  have 
already  been  pointed  out  as  in  themselves  effects.  In 
other  words,  in  the  natural  interdependence  of  all  eco- 
nomic factors,  the  greater  the  economic  insecurity  of 
the  worker,  the  more  active  will  be  rendered  the  causes 
of  that  insecurity.  This  is  the  inevitable  prospect  that 
a  view  of  the  entire  problem  presents.  At  the  same 
time,  without  going  into  a  detailed  description,  atten- 
tion may  be  called  to  certain  specific  results  which 
will  suggest  more  correctly  the  significance  of  the  prob- 
lem in  the  life  of  the  wage- worker. 

First,  is  the  actual  loss  of  earnings  or  decreased 
wages.  It  is  not  necessary  to  point  out  that  so  far 
as  inadequate  family  income  is  caused  by  the  fail- 
ure of  the  breadwinner  to  earn  his  full  wages,  the  neces- 
sity of  supplementing  family  income  from  the  earnings 
of  wife  and  children  and  from  boarders  and  lodgers 
is  created.  Thus,  "sweating"  and  interference  with 
normal  family  life  are  results. 

Second,  irregularity  of  income  is  in  itself  a  breeder 
of  wasteful  living.  A  family  may  be  in  want  for 
weeks;  it  may  be  in  comfortable  circumstances  and  in 
a  position  to  save  for  the  next  few  weeks.  Studies 
of  family  life  among  workers  with  irregular  income 
have  shown  that  imprudence  is  encouraged  by  the  very 
irregularity  of  the  providence. 

Third,  uncertainty  of  regular  income  and  of  regular 
employment  can  not  but  have  deleterious  effects  upon 
the   worker's   efficiency   and   his   contentment.      Worry 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  171 

over  a  matter  of  such  vital  importance  as  one's  liveli- 
hood, especially  when  the  welfare  of  the  family  is  at 
stake,  is  recognized  as  a  prolific  cause  of  the  individual's 
deterioration.  It  has  been  observed  that  workmen  in 
the  iron  and  steel  industry,  for  example,  lose  skill  dur- 
ing any  shutdown  that  lasts  more  than  a  few  days.*^ 
Irregular  employment  tends  to  demoralize  the  worker 
and  to  make  him  not  only  incapable  of  sustained  effort, 
but  unwilling  to  work  regularly 

Fourth,  the  tendency  is  for  the  worker  to  lose 
rather  than  to  gain  industrial  status  when  he  is  thrown 
out  of  employment.  It  has  been  repeatedly  found  by 
investigators  that  the  worker,  especially  where  he  is 
the  breadwinner  of  a  family,  is  likely  to  take  any  job 
he  can  get  when  he  is  unemployed.  Sometimes  this 
is  a  steady  job,  but  often  at  a  lower  rate  of  wages  than 
the  one  he  lost.  More  frequently,  in  the  extreme  neces- 
sity for  having  an  income  of  some  sort,  he  gets  a 
temporary  job  because  temporary  jobs  are  more  easy 
to  get.  The  probability  is  that  he  will,  when  weakened 
by  the  lack  of  adequate  food  and  healthful  living  con- 
ditions, and  demoralized  by  irregular  habits  of  work 
and  living,  gradually  drift  into  the  casual  labor  class. 
Of  7,000  applications  for  jobs  from  workers  applying 
at  the  Cooperative  Employment  Bureau  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, according  to  testimony  before  the  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations,  one-half  w^ere  incapacitated  for 
work  from  lack  of  nourishment,  disease  and  exposure.*' 

*^  Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  Vol.  iii,  p.  380. 
<»  Testimony  of  H.  R.  Bogart,  Financial  Secretary  of  Associative  Charities, 
San  Francisco  Hearings  on  Seasonal   Labor  Problem  in   California. 


172  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

A  study  of  5,000  dependent  families  coming  under  the 
care  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  in  New  York 
City  showed  that  unemployment  was  a  cause  of  dis- 
ability of  over  69  per  cent,  of  the  families.  The  Fed- 
eral Immigration  Commission  records  of  over  30,000 
charity  seekers  in  41  industrial  centers  (excluding  New 
York  City),  involving  118,000  persons,  showed  that 
unemployment  was  a  cause  in  43.2  per  cent,  of  the 
cases.  The  casual  laborers  at  the  docks  in  New  York 
are  comprised  in  large  part  of  those  who  have  gradu- 
ally lost  their  status  in  industries  and  the  dock  worker 
continues  to  slip  down  in  the  scale  until  he  reaches  the 
class  of  "shenangoes,"  the  down-and-out  longshoremen 
capable  of  only  light  work,  and  finally  becomes  a  bur- 
den upon  the  city  or  private  charity. 

Fifth,  there  is  thus  created  a  great  class  of  irregu- 
larly employed  persons,  composed  of  casual  male 
workers  and  women  and  children  workers.  It  is  upon 
this  kind  of  labor  supply  that  "parasitic"  industries  are 
able  to  exist,  and  that  other  industries  are  able  to 
rely,  for  unskilled  work  without  regard  to  the  welfare 
of  the  worker.  Low  wages  can  be  paid  because  the 
supply  of  cheap  labor  is  so  great,  and  women  and  chil- 
dren are  called  into  industry  for  a  few  weeks  or  a  few 
months  in  the  year  at  wages  far  below  the  standard 
necessary  to  maintain  regularly  employed  workers. 

The  evidence  on  this  phase  of  the  problem  is  so 
extensive  and  so  conclusive  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
restate  it  in  detail.  The  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions'  investigations   and   hearings   on   labor  conditions 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  173 

in  California,  for  example,  brought  out  the  fact  that, 
while  the  great  majority  of  workers  in  the  California 
canneries  are  women  and  children,  the  seasonal  irregu- 
larity of  employment  is  so  great  that  there  has  grown 
up  a  large  class  of  migratory  homeless  laborers.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  100,000  unskilled  workers  are 
employed  in  California  fruit  and  vegetable  growing 
and  canning  and  that  probably  one-third  of  these  labor- 
ers have  no  permanent  voting  place,  home  or  family. 
These  drift  from  place  to  place  during  the  various  sea- 
sons, concentrating  in  the  large  towns  and  cities  in 
November  and  December.  In  1913-1914  San  Francisco, 
Los  Angeles  and  Sacramento  each  had  thousands  of 
these  migratory  laborers,  from  10  to  40  per  cent,  of 
them  being  destitute,  in  addition  to  the  thousands  that 
drift  during  the  winter  from  the  colder  climates  of 
Nevada  and  Oregon  and  even  the  Middle  West.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1913-1914,  2,500  unemployed  la- 
borers overflovt'ed  from  San  Francisco  and  drifted  into 
Sacramento,  Oakland,  Benecia,  Roseville,  Woodland 
and  other  localities  in  search  of  work,  shelter  and  food. 
The  same  condition  was  found  to  be  true  also  in 
the  Middle  West  and  in  the  East,  not  simply  because 
of  seasonal  industries,  but  in  industries  that  are  among 
the  most  independent  of  seasons.  In  the  steel  indus- 
try, for  instance,  it  was  found  that  "besides  the  fluc- 
tuations due  to  industrial  conditions,  there  is  also  much 
unsteady  employment  due  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
men  do  not  retain  any  one  position  for  a  very  long 
period,  but  go  from  plant  to  plant  and  take  whatever 


1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

29,644 
13,983 

28,313 
11,705 

17,747 
4,169 

24,523 
10,792 

30,040 
13,043 

174  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

work  they  can  secure  wherever  it  is  offered.  .  .  . 
Many  of  the  men  leave  on  the  slightest  rumor  of  a 
shutdown  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  work  elsewhere 
before  really  serious  trouble  has  come."  ^^  The  shift- 
ing of  the  labor  force  in  one  large  plant  in  each  of  the 
years  1905  to  19 10  was  found  to  be  as  follows : 


1905 

Total  employees  during  the  year  25,654 

New  employees  during  the  year  14,023 

Per  cent,  of  total  employees  leav- 
ing plant  and  not  returning  38  44  51  22  30  48 

Per  cent,  of  total  employees  leav- 
ing work  temporarily     ....  26  23  24  39  33  20 


To  sum  up,  the  effects  of  unemployment  are  three- 
fold, according  to  their  incidence : 

1.  The  effects  upon  the  workers  are  insecurity  of  eco- 
nomic status  with  a  large  percentage  losing  their  status 
and  becoming  subject  to  decreased,  irregular  and  often 
insufficient  income,  with  its  attendant  misery,  inability 
to  regain  economic  competence,  demoralization  and 
dependency. 

2.  The  effects  upon  industry  are  lessened  efficiency 
of  a  large  proportion  of  workers,  and  the  creation  of 
a  casual  labor  supply  which  affords  the  opportunity  for 
uneconomical  cutting  down  of  labor  costs,  assists  in  cre- 
ating a  condition  whereby  grossly  overcapitalized  corpor- 
ations can  exist  in  competition  with  soundly  managed 
business,  calls  into  existence  parasitic  industries  that, 
under  other  than  maladjusted  conditions,  could  not  live, 
and   permits   an   irregularization   of   industry   which    is 

""  Conditions  of  Labor  in  the  Iron  and  Steol  Industry,  vol.  iii,  p.  380. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  175 

beneficial  neither  to  business  nor  to  the  worl<ers,   nor 
to  communities  or  the  nation  as  a  whole. 

3.  The  effect  upon  the  community,  particularly  in 
those  localities  where  irregular  employment  is  most  pro- 
nounced, is  the  presence  of  an  unstable,  shifting  popula- 
tion, composed  of  non-home-owning,  ill-paid  workers 
and  their  families  unable  to  discharge  the  responsibili- 
ties of  the  average  citizen,  who,  living  according  to  low 
standards,  are  subject  to  disease,  and  who  frequently 
become  burdens  upon  the  public  as  dependents  and  delin- 
quents. The  economic  loss  alone  to  a  community  is 
great,  while  the  loss  in  other  respects  is  incalculable. 


176  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


V 
WORKING    CONDITIONS 

HOURS  OF  LABOR 

The  Trend  Tozuard  a  Shorter  Working  Day 

Significant  developments  have  recently  occurred  in 
the  movement  for  shortening  the  hours  of  labor.  The 
most  important  piece  of  eight-hour  day  legislation  was 
probably  the  temporary  and  emergency  railroad  law  of 
September  3,  1916,  which  was  enacted  to  avoid  the  oc- 
currence of  a  threatened  strike.  It  declared  "eight  hours 
shall  be  deemed  a  day's  work  and  the  measure  of  standard 
of  a  day's  work"  for  the  purpose  of  reckoning  the  com- 
pensation for  services  of  engine  and  train  crews  in  inter- 
state commerce. 

The  judgment  of  American  society  as  to  the  length  of 
the  work  day  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  all  States  of 
the  Union,  besides  the  Federal  Government,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  six,  have  some  sort  of  legislation  limiting  the 
hours  of  labor.  Where  States  and  cities  have  dealt  with 
labor  they  have  signalized  their  support  of  the  short  work 
day  by  decreeing  its  application  to  public  works.  This  is 
the  case  in  28  States,  not  including  the  territories  of 
Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico.  Wherever  legislation  has  en- 
tered the  field  of  private  employment,  it  has  done  so  with 
a  view  to  ameliorating  conditions  in  the  more  arduous 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  177 

occupations  where  the  evil  effects  of  long  hours  are  the 
most  threatening.  Fourteen  States  Hmit  the  hours  to  8 
in  mines,  9  States  in  smehers,  i  State  in  electric  light 
and  power  plants,  3  States  in  coke  ovens,  2  States  in  blast 
furnaces,  2  States  in  cement  and  plaster  mills,  i  State  in 
plate  glass  works,  5  States  in  rolling,  rod  and  stamp  mills, 
3  States  in  tunnels,  2  States  in  high  air  pressure  works, 
I  State  in  irrigation  works,  8  States  for  railroad  tele- 
graphers ;  and  9  States  have  limited  the  work  day  in  gen- 
eral to  8  hours  unless  otherwise  stipulated  by  contract. 
This,  however,  is  a  useless  restriction — or  rather  no  re- 
striction in  practise  as  it  is  quite  simple  to  make  the  neces- 
sary stipulation.  There  are  27  States  which  limit  the 
hours  of  work  to  9  a  day,  19  which  limit  them  to  10,  i 
to  II,  and  5  to  12,  but  only  in  certain  hazardous  occupa- 
tions or  employments  liable  to  the  abuse  of  excessive 
hours,  such  as  transportation  and  continuous  industries. 
Two  States  have  adopted  the  limitation  of  the  hours  of 
labor  in  ordinary  manufacturing  without  giving  con- 
sideration to  the  excessive  arduousness  of  the  occupation. 
Mississippi  declared  1 1  hours  a  working  day,  but  did  not 
penalize  overtime.  Oregon,  in  its  law  of  19 13,  declared 
"that  no  person  shall  be  hired  nor  permitted  to  work  for 
wages,  under  any  conditions  or  terms,  for  longer  hours 
or  days  of  service  than  is  consistent  with  his  health  and 
physical  well-being  and  ability  to  promote  the  general 
welfare  by  his  increasing  usefulness  as  a  healthy  and  in- 
telligent citizen."  The  law  prohibits  the  employment  of 
any  one  for  more  than  10  hours  in  any  one  day,  with  cer- 
tain exceptions,  but  permits  overtime  not  in  excess  of  3 


178  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

hours,  penalizing  such  overtime  by  requiring  payment  o£ 
time  and  one-half  of  the  regular  wage.  This  law  of 
Oregon  and  the  Federal  eight-hour  railroad  law  already 
referred  to,  establish  the  principle  of  the  short  working 
day  as  the  measure  for  the  payment  of  wages  and  the 
standard  of  a  day's  work  regardless  of  whether  the  actual 
work  to  be  done  can  be  completed  within  the  specified 
hours  or  not.  The  two  laws  differ,  however,  in  that  the 
Federal  law  is  merely  a  temporary  measure,  a  sort  of 
compulsory  investigation  law,  while  the  Oregon  law  estab- 
lishes a  public  policy  for  that  State. 

Whatever  may  be  the  net  effect  of  legislation  in  reduc- 
ing hours  of  labor,  it  is  probably  true  that  more,  or  as 
much,  has  been  secured  through  private  collective  bar- 
gaining between  employers  and  workingmen.  In  fact, 
organized  labor  through  the  Convention  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  in  191 5  recorded  itself  as  against 
securing  the  eight-hour  day  through  legislation  rather 
than  through  private  negotiation.  This  was,  indeed,  an 
extraordinary  resolution,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
the  fact  that  the  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Con- 
vention by  the  socialist  element  may  have  had  something 
to  do  with  its  defeat  by  that  group  in  the  Federation  which 
is  violently  opposed  to  everything  favored  by  the  socialist 
wing.  Partizan  passion  may  have  obscured  the  issue. 
It  seems  difficult  to  explain  it  otherwise. 

Private  bargaining  has  attained  the  best  results  in 
shortening  the  working  day  in  the  skilled  trades  and  in  the 
cities  where  labor  is  more  intelligent,  aggressive  and  co- 
herent.   At  the  present  time,  trade  union  members  in  46 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  179 

diflFerent  trades  have  secured  for  themselves  the  eight- 
hour  day  through  agreements  with  their  employers.  Ac- 
cording to  the  report  of  the  Annual  Convention  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  of  1915,  these  trades  in- 
clude carpenters  and  joiners,  coal  miners,  typographical 
printers,  cigar-makers,  granite  cutters,  painters,  deco- 
rators and  paper-hangers,  plasterers,  plumbers  and  steam- 
fitters,  lathers,  tile  layers,  composition  roofers,  railroad 
telegraphers,  stone  cutters,  marble  workers,  sheet  metal 
workers,  elevator  constructors,  bookbinders,  hodcarriers 
and  building  laborers,  brick,  tile  and  terra-cotta  workers, 
cement  workers,  compressed  air  workers,  steam  engineers 
(in  building  construction),  pavers,  rammermen,  flagg 
layers,  bridge  and  stone  curb  setters,  paving  cutters,  plate 
printers,  printing  pressmen,  stereotypers  and  electro- 
typers,  tunnel  and  subway  constructors,  bridge  and 
structural  iron  workers,  asbestos  workers,  quarry 
workers,  metal  miners,  flint  glass  workers,  slate  and 
tile  roofers,  cutting  die  and  cutter  makers,  stationary  fire- 
men, papermakers,  photoengravers,  powder  and  high 
explosive  workers,  and  bricklayers. 

In  the  machine  trades,  a  movement  for  the  reduction 
of  hours,  notable  for  its  rapid  progress,^  took  place  dur- 
ing the  late  summer  of  191 5.  Altho  it  is  true  that  this 
movement  chiefly  affected  firms  having  contracts  for 
making  war  munitions,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the 
gain  will  probably  be  permanent,  as  the  common  ex- 
perience is  that  it  is  difficult  to  increase  hours  of  labor 


^  Monthly  Review  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Washing- 
ton, February,  1916,  p.  37. 


i8o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

once  they  have  been  reduced.  The  reduced  hours  of 
labor  in  these  estabhshments  have,  in  practically  all  cases, 
been  effected  with  no  reduction  in  M^eekly  wages,  while  in 
many  cases  there  have  been  increases  in  wages.  Alto- 
gether, 83  firms  established  an  8-hour  working  day;  3 
were  reported  as  having  established  a  49^2 -hour  week, 
5  a  50-hour  week,  and  2,  a  54-hour  week. 

An  investigation  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  in  191 5  included  data  from  47  cities  lo- 
cated in  32  different  States,  covered  5,548  scales  or 
contracts,  which  affected  676,571  union  employees  in 
II  occupation  groups,  and  showed  a  tendency  toward 
reduction  in  the  hours  of  labor  of  union  workers. 
Over  one-half  (53.7  per  cent.,  or  2,992  cases)  of  the 
workers  included  worked  8  hours  or  less  per  day. 
The  II  occupation  groups  included  in  these  statistics 
comprised  bakery  trades,  brewery  and  bottling-house 
workmen ;  building  trades ;  chauffeurs,  teamsters,  drivers ; 
freight-handlers ;  granite  and  stone  trades ;  metal  trades ; 
mill  work;  printing  and  publishing  (book  and  job); 
printing  and  publishing  (newspaper) ;  soft  drink  estab- 
lishment employees. 

Other  investigations  made  annually  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  follow  the  movement  in  hours  of  labor 
in  some  of  the  principal  industries.  For  the  men's  cloth- 
ing industry,  full  time  hours  per  week  in  1914  were  re- 
duced I  per  cent,  over  those  prevailing  in  19 13,  6  per  cent, 
over  1912,  7  per  cent,  over  191 1.  Full  time  hours  per 
week  in  this  industry  in  1914  varied  from  44  to  60;  and 
the  average  for  most  occupations  was  51  and  53.    In  that 


IN    ^AM  ERIC  AN   INDUSTRIES 


i«i 


respect,  hand  cutters  and  machine  cutters  were  the  best 
situated,  working  respectively  48.6  and  48.4  hours  per 
week.  In  the  hosiery  and  underwear  industry  in  19 14  the 
average  hours  were  55  a  week,  which  was  a  reduction  of 
5  per  cent,  over  hours  prevailing  in  1910  for  21  occupa- 
tion-groups in  the  industry.  For  some  of  the  principal 
occupations  in  the  industry  the  weekly  hours  in  1914 
were  as  follows : 

Hosiery  and  underwear,  Knitters,  footers,  or  top- 
male 55.3  pers,  hosiery,  female  . .     54.9 

Finishers,  underwear,  fe-  Loopers,  hosiery  and  un- 

male 54.1  derwear,  female  ..     ..     54.8 

Inspectors,  folders,  hosiery  Seamers,   underwear,   fe- 

and  underwear,  female  54.5  male 54.1 

Winders,  hosiery  and  un- 
derwear, female   . .     . .  54.1 

In  woolen  goods  tlie  hours  of  labor  per  week  have  been 
reduced  3  per  cent,  in  19 14  below  the  prevailing  hours  of 
19 10;  the  average  weekly  hours  were  generally  55.  The 
data  for  certain  occupations  are  as  follows : 

Burners,  female      , .     . .     54.6  Weavers,  female     . .     . .     54.8 

Laborers,  dye  house,  male    54.8  Spinners,  mule,  male      . .     55.8 

Weavers,  male 55.2 

The  tendency  continued  in  19 14  toward  a  reduction  of 
hours  in  the  cotton  goods  manufacturing  industry,  being 
3  per  cent,  lower  than  in  191 1;  the  average  hours  per 
week  being  56.5  for  cotton  goods  manufacturing  and 
finishing.  In  certain  occupations  the  hours  per  week 
were  as  follows : 

Spinners,  female     . .     . .  56.9  Laborers,  dye  house,  male  56.1 

Weavers,  male 56.8  Fullers,  male 56.0 

Weavers,  female     . .     . .  55.8  Printers,  male 55.5 

Loom  fixers,  male  . .     . .  56.8 


i82  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

enough  to  allow  a  rest  and  return  home,  but  generally 
involves  wasting  time  in  the  downtown  sections. 

As  regards  the  States  in  which  the  proportion  of  wage- 
earners  working  in  establishments  observing  y2  hours  or 
over  per  week,  it  appears  that  in  Colorado  11.4  per  cent, 
are  so  engaged,  while  Texas  comes  second  with  10  per 
cent.,  Oklahoma  third  with  9.3  per  cent.,  and  Louisiana 
fourth  with  8.4  per  cent.  These  high  averages  are  to  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  in  these  States  are  centered  a 
fairly  high  proportion  of  those  industries  which  by  their 
economic  nature  are  continuous  or  observe  long  hours 
everywhere. 

Three  States  have  made  investigations  into  the  amount 
of  seven-day  work  in  certain  occupations.  The  most  re- 
cent one  in  Massachusetts  is  that  of  1907.  Out  of  57,955 
employees  in  commercial  employments  and  trades  re- 
ported in  the  course  of  the  investigation,  about  42  per 
cent,  worked  seven  days  a  week.  Minnesota  since  1901 
has  reported  in  the  factory  inspection  reports  the  number 
of  employees  who  worked  seven  days  a  week.  This 
varied  from  the  lowest  in  1905,  or  3.7  per  cent  to  a  maxi- 
mum in  1909,  or  II  per  cent.,  i.e.,  affecting  over  21,000 
employees.  In  New  York  the  Department  of  Labor  re- 
ported in  19 10  that  out  of  trade  union  employees  in  trans- 
portations, personal  service,  post-office  work  and  station- 
ary engineers,  69,907,  or  about  40  per  cent.,  worked  seven 
days  a  week.  This  high  average  is,  of  course,  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  largest  proportion  reported  were 
in  steam  railroad  service.  The  following  table  shows  the 
proportion  of  wage-earners  in  specified  industries  who 


IN   ^AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  183 

work,  and  in  19 13,  36  plants  reported  79.8  per  cent, 
of  all  their  employees  in  seven-day  occupations  as 
compared  with  20  plants  which  reported  in  1907 
97.2  per  cent,  of  their  employees  in  such  occupations.  No 
definite  statement  as  to  actual  reductions  in  seven-day 
work  can  be  made  for  the  other  departments  of  the  steel- 
making  industry,  because  the  amount  of  seven-day  work 
is  dependent  upon  industrial  conditions,  a  year  of  large 
production  making  for  considerable  seven-day  work,  and 
one  of  small  production  usually  resulting  in  a  reduction. 
In  1913,  however,  only  10.8  per  cent,  of  the  employees  of 
the  10  plants  covered  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
worked  seven  days  per  week;  in  fact,  the  six-day  week 
prevailed  generally  through  the  seven-year  period,  1907 
to  1913.  In  open  hearth  furnaces  in  1913,  34.2  per  cent, 
of  the  employees  worked  generally  7  days  per  week,  and 
in  blooming  mills  12  per  cent. 

The  Federal  Census  of  December,  19 14,  the  results  of 
which  are  soon  to  appear,  records  a  continued  tendency 
toward  a  reduction  in  the  length  of  the  work  day. 

The  Working  Day  in  the  Principal  Industries 

The  1909  Census  of  Manufactures  showed  that  for  all 
industries  in  the  United  States  covering  over  six  and  a 
half  million  wage-earners,  76  per  cent,  were  employed  in 
establishments  operating  over  54  to  60  hours  a  week  in- 
clusive, practically  8  per  cent,  in  establishments  observing 
a  working  week  of  less  than  48  hours,  7  per  cent,  in  48 
to  54  hour  plants  inclusive,  5  per  cent,  in  those  operating 


i84  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

over  60  but  under  yz  hours  a  week,  and  approximately 
4  per  cent,  in  those  operating  72  hours  or  over  a  week. 

The  census  figures  regarding  hours  of  labor  are  ad- 
mittedly inadequate  in  certain  respects.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  ascertain  exactly  the  actual  number  of  employees 
in  manufacturing  industries  working  a  given  number  of 
hours  per  week.  Variations  from  one  period  to  another 
in  an  establishment  were  disregarded,  and  no  note  was 
taken  of  those  employees  in  an  establishment  who  worked 
longer  or  shorter  hours  than  the  prevailing  hours  worked 
by  the  majority  of  the  employees.  It  is,  however,  gen- 
erally true  that  all  employees  in  an  establishment  work 
the  same  number  of  hours  per  week. 

Considering  less  than  54  hours  a  week  as  a  reasonably 
short  working  week,  the  Census  enumerated  9  short-hour 
industries :  Artificial  flowers ;  feathers  and  plumes  ;  print- 
ing and  publishing ;  fur  goods ;  malt  liquors ;  marble  and 
stone  work;  patent  medicines  and  compounds  and  drug- 
gists' preparations;  women's  clothing;  millinery  and  lace 
goods ;  turpentine  and  rosin.  In  marble  and  stone  work, 
in  printing  and  publishing,  and  in  the  brewery  industry, 
40  per  cent,  of  the  wage-earners  were  in  establishments  in 
which  the  prevailing  hours  of  labor  were  51  hours  or  less 
a  week. 

As  compared  with  general  manufactures,  mines  and 
quarries  show  more  favorable  conditions  as  respects  hours 
of  labor.  This  is  probably  due  to  legislation  which  has 
tended  to  protect  the  laborer  in  tlie  more  hazardous  oc- 
cupations. It  is  also  true  that  the  mining  industry  is 
highly    organized.      Only    one    large    operator    in    the 


IN  'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  185 

bituminous  region  has  succeeded  in  remaining  non-union. 
He  employs  no  union  men  and  operates  on  the  nine-hour 
day,  while  all  other  operators  observe  the  union  day  of 
eight  hours.  The  organized  mine  workers  have  now  com- 
menced agitation  for  the  seven-hour  day. 

Excluding  petroleum  and  natural  gas  wells,  the  census 
of  mines  and  quarries  (1909)  showed  that  about  one- 
half,  or  48.2  per  cent.,  of  the  mining  and  quarrying  en- 
terprises of  the  United  States  were  on  the  eight-hour 
basis,  while  the  other  half  were  on  a  nine-  or  ten-hour 
schedule.  Deep  gold  mines  showed  most  favorable  con- 
ditions, over  nine-tenths  operating  on  an  eight-hour  basis. 
Five-sixths  of  the  copper  mines,  three- fourths  of  lead  and 
zinc  mines,  more  than  two-thirds  of  all  bituminous  coal 
mines,  three-fifths  of  placer  mines,  and  slightly  less  than 
one-half  of  the  granite  quarries  were  operating  at  the 
time  of  the  Census  on  an  eight-hour  schedule.  The 
Census  figures  of  1909  show  the  following  distribution  of 
wage-earners  according  to  prevailing  hours  of  labor: 

Per  cent,  of  wage-earners  in 
establishments    where   the 
prevailing  hours  were 
Total 
United  States  average 

number 

New  England 1,101,290 

Middle  Atlantic 2,207,747 

East  North  Central  . .      . .  1,513,764 

West  North  Central..     ..  374,337 

South  Atlantic 663,015 

East  South  Central  . .      . .  261,772 

West  South  Central..     ..  204,520 

Mountain 75,435 

Pacific 213,166 

United  States 6,615,046  15.2  76.1  8.7 


Under 

54  to  60 

Over 

54 

inclusive 

60 

9.1 

89.2 

1.8 

19.3 

73.6 

7.1 

14.9 

77.9 

7.2 

18.4 

74.8 

6.9 

11.8 

68.5 

19.6 

10.5 

66.8 

22.7 

9.8 

66.7 

23.6 

18.3 

65.6 

16.1 

20.6 

72.2 

7.2 

i86  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Decidedly  contrasting  conditions,  however,  still  exist 
in  other  industries,  particularly  in  those  industries  termed 
by  the  Germans  "heavy  industries."  These  are  usually 
continuous  employments.  Summing  up  the  figures  of  the 
Census  of  Manufactures  of  1909  it  appears  that  a  trifle 
over  230,000  employees  in  the  manufacturing  industries 
of  the  United  States,  or  approximately  3  per  cent.,  worked 
72  hours  and  over  per  week.  Certain  industries  are  con- 
spicuous in  regard  to  the  proportion  of  the  total  average 
number  of  wage-earners  who  work  72  hours  or  more  per 
week.  Thus  in  order  of  their  position  in  that  respect 
stand  the  following  ten  industries : 

Per  cent,   earners  working 
prevailingly  72  hours  and 
over  per  week 
Industries 

Sugar  and  molasses  (not  including  sugar  refining)    ..  95.0 

Blast  furnaces  (Census)       86.0 

Blast  furnaces  (Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics)        ..      ..  72.8 

Oil,  cottonseed  and  cake       76.4 

Beet  sugar 75.6 

Ice,  manufactured 65.5 

Oil,  linseed       60.0 

Glucose  and  starch 57.8 

Gas,  illuminating 56.4 

Sulphuric,  nitric  and  mixed  acids 44.3 

Cement       39.4 

Over  40  per  cent,  of  the  employees  in  the  iron  and 
steel  industry  in  19 lo,  according  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  worked  y2  hours  and  over  per  week.  About 
one-fifth  worked  84  hours  and  over  per  week. 

In  the  wood  pulp  and  paper  industry  the  Tariff  Board 
report  (1911)  showed  that  slightly  over  15  per  cent,  of 
the    employees    (7,616)   covered    by    the    investigation 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  187 

worked  on  a  two-shift  basis,  i.e.,  a  12-hour  day.  Ac- 
cording to  the  13th  (1909)  Census  figures,  about  21  per 
cent,  in  that  industry  worked  ^2  hours  a  week  prevail- 
ingly. For  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  therefore,  it 
may  be  safe  to  estimate  that  15  to  20  per  cent,  of  the 
employees  in  the  wood  pulp  and  paper  industry  worked 
'^2  hours  or  over  a  week. 

As  calculated  from  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics,  about  60  per  cent,  out  of  459  employees  who 
did  overtime  work  in  April,  1908,  in  telegraph  offices  had 
an  overtime  day  of  12  hours  or  over.  No  figures  were 
available  as  to  how  many  days  were  worked  at  that  rate 
during  the  year.  It  may,  however,  be  added  that  about  24 
per  cent,  of  the  overtime  workers  during  April,  1908, 
worked  50  or  more  hours  during  the  month,  that  is,  ap- 
proximately two  additional  hours  for  each  regular  work 
day. 

With  the  telephone  companies  investigated  by  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  in  1909,  overtime  of  two  and 
one-half  hours  was  worked  at  least  one  day  a  week. 
Sunday  work  was  usual  for  two  Sundays  out  of  the 
month.  This  meant  in  general  57!  to  61  hours  of  actual 
work  per  week,  as  the  regular  day  was  from  8^  to  9  hours 
per  day.    Practically  all  the  employees  were  women. 

For  both  telephone  and  telegraph  companies  the  hard- 
ships of  work  were  not  connected  with  long  hours  of 
actual  work  so  much  as  with  the  split  trick,  i.e.,  a  trick 
on  which  the  hours  of  an  employee  are  divided  into  two 
periods  of  work  in  the  course  of  the  24,  involving  a  wait 
between  working  spells.     This  wait  is  usually  not  long 


i88  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

enough  to  allow  a  rest  and  return  home,  but  generally 
involves  wasting  time  in  the  downtown  sections. 

As  regards  the  States  in  which  the  proportion  of  wage- 
earners  working  in  establishments  observing  72  hours  or 
over  per  week,  it  appears  that  in  Colorado  11.4  per  cent, 
are  so  engaged,  while  Texas  comes  second  with  10  per 
cent.,  Oklahoma  third  with  9.3  per  cent.,  and  Louisiana 
fourth  with  8.4  per  cent.  These  high  averages  are  to  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  in  these  States  are  centered  a 
fairly  high  proportion  of  those  industries  which  by  their 
economic  nature  are  continuous  or  observe  long  hours 
everywhere. 

Three  States  have  made  investigations  into  the  amount 
of  seven-day  work  in  certain  occupations.  The  most  re- 
cent one  in  Massachusetts  is  that  of  1907.  Out  of  57,955 
employees  in  commercial  employments  and  trades  re- 
ported in  the  course  of  the  investigation,  about  42  per 
cent,  worked  seven  days  a  week.  Minnesota  since  1901 
has  reported  in  the  factory  inspection  reports  the  number 
of  employees  who  worked  seven  days  a  week.  This 
varied  from  the  lowest  in  1905,  or  3.7  per  cent,  to  a  maxi- 
mum in  1909,  or  1 1  per  cent.,  i.e.,  affecting  over  21,000 
employees.  In  New  York  the  Department  of  Labor  re- 
ported in  1910  that  out  of  trade  union  employees  in  trans- 
portations, personal  service,  post-office  work  and  station- 
ary engineers,  69,907,  or  about  40  per  cent,  worked  seven 
days  a  week.  This  high  average  is,  of  course,  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  largest  proportion  reported  were 
in  steam  railroad  service.  The  following  table  shows  the 
proportion  of  wage-earners  in  specified  industries  who 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


189 


worked  y2  hours  or  longer,  according  to  the  Census  of 
1909: 


INDUSTRIES  IN  WHICH  LARGE  NUMBERS  OF  WAGE-EARNERS  WERE 
EMPLOYED  72  HOURS  OR  MORE  PER  WEEK;   1909 

Wage-earners:   1909 — In  establishments 
where  prevailing  hours  were 


Total 

Industry  average 
number 

Beet  sugar       7,204 

Cement      26,775 

Chemicals         23,714 

Coke 29,273 

Flour  and  grist  mills 39,453 

Gas,    illuminating   and    heating..  37,215 

Glucose  and  starch        4,773 

Ice,  manufactured 16,114 

Iron  and  steel,  blast  furnaces  .  .  38,429 
Iron   and   steel,  steel   works   and 

rolling  mills 240,076 

Lime 13,897 

Liquors,  distilled 6,430 

Oil,  cottonseed  and  cake       ..      ..  17,071 

Oil,  linseed 1,452 

Paper  and  wood  pulp 75,978 

Petroleum  refining 13,929 

Salt 4,936 

Smelting  and  refining   (not  from 

ore) 2,147 

Sugar  and  molasses       4,127 

Sugar,  refining        9,399 

Sulphuric,  nitric  and  mixed  acids  2,252 
Wood   distillation    (not   including 

turpentine  and  rosin)    . .      . .  2,721 


72 

Ovei 

■72 

A 

A 

"\ 

f 

Number  Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

508 

7.1 

4,934 

68.5 

146 

0.5 

10,427 

38.9 

514 

2.2 

4,193 

17.7 

49 

2 

3,231 

11.0 

7,132 

18.1 

338 

0.9 

2,890 

7.8 

18,473 

49.6 

658 

13.8 

2,102 

44.0 

2,128 

13.2 

8,421 

52.3 

1,304 

3.4 

31,729 

82.6 

49,364 

20.6 

2,954 

1.2 

415 

3.0 

1,145 

8.2 

755 

11.7 

42 

0.7 

12,568 

73.6 

477 

2.8 

616 

42.4 

255 

17.6 

15,706 

20.7 

751 

1.0 

222 

1.6 

2,366 

17.0 

431 

8.Z 

156 

3.2 

23 

1.1 

664 

30.9 

2,092 

50.7 

1,828 

44.3 

2,217 

23.6 

743 

7.9 

130 

5.8 

867 

38.5 

242 


8.9 


699 


25.7 


Special  consideration  may  properly  be  given  to  the 
facts  as  to  the  working  hours  of  women  in  industry,  who 
comprise  between  lo  and  15  per  cent,  of  the  seven  odd 
million  wage-earners  in  the  country.  State  laws  have 
been  rather  regardful  as  to  the  need  of  limiting  the  work- 
ing hours  of  women  and  children  on  the  ground  that 
these  are  a  special  class  of  the  population  whose  welfare 
is  too  closely  bound  up  with  the  general  welfare  to  be 


I90  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

left  unprotected.  While  courts  have  held  that  laws  limit- 
ing the  hours  of  adult  wage-earners  in  ordinary  occu- 
pations and  unattended  by  special  dangers  to  health  are 
unconstitutional,  they  have  not  failed  to  support  such 
legislation  in  the  interest  of  women  and  children. 

One  of  the  earliest  industries  women  and  children  en- 
tered was  the  cotton  industry,  and  here,  too,  laws  regu- 
lating their  hours  of  employment  were  first  introduced. 
Even  as  recently  as  1908,  however,  some  very  undesirable 
conditions  were  disclosed  by  an  investigation  of  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.^  Long  hours  for 
their  women  employees,  that  is,  55  to  60  a  week,  were 
characteristic  of  such  industries  as  metal  and  paper-box 
manufacture,  canning  and  preserving,  cigar-box  manu- 
facture, manufacture  of  needles  and  pins,  screws,  nuts 
and  bolts,  confectionery  and  cracker  industries,  manu- 
facture of  tobacco  and  snuff,  stamped  enamel  ware,  pot- 
tery, and  laundries,  the  last  named  more  particularly. 
Shorter  hours  {i.e.,  50  or  under  a  week)  of  labor  pre- 
vailed for  women  and  child  wage-earners  in  the  textile 
industries  and  ready-made  clothing  manufacture.  In 
stores,  holiday  work  was  found  decidedly  frequent  and 
arduous,  running  to  dangerous  limits  in  the  absence  of 
restrictive  laws. 

Without  going  into  extended  details,  the  following 
statement  may  serve  to  show  the  net  results  as  to  hours 
of  labor  of  women  wage-earners  in  certain  cities  engaged 
in  the  men's  ready-made  clothing  industry.^ 

'  Report  on  condition  of  women  and  child  wage-earners  In  the  United  States; 
Washington.  1910-1913.  19  vols. 
*Op.  cit..  Vol.  II.,  p.  107. 


IN  'AMERICAN  INDUSTRIES  191 

Average  hours  per 
Number  affected  week  for  women 

/ ' .      / ' ^ 

Cities  16  years      Under  16       16  years      Under  16 

and  over         years         and  over         years 

Chicago 3,803  317  48.4  45.3 

Rochester 1,367  32  49.2  44.3 

New  York      2,712  39  49.9  54.4 

Philadelphia 1,049  88  47.4  50.6 

Baltimore 1,397  128  45.8  40.4 

In  the  metal  trades,  according  to  the  authority  of  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,^  in  233  establish- 
ments employing  in  1908  22,745  women  over  16  years  of 
age,  ^^  per  cent,  worked  less  than  55  hours  a  week;  56 
per  cent,  worked  55  hours  and  under  60,  and  11  per  cent, 
worked  60  hours  a  week.  As  for  children  under  16  years 
of  age,  29  per  cent,  worked  under  55  hours  a  week,  39 
per  cent.,  55  hours  and  under  60,  and  ;^2  per  cent,  worked 
60  hours  a  week.  A  larger  proportion  of  children  under 
16  years  of  age  worked  60  hours  a  week  than  of  women 
above  that  age. 

Since  this  general  investigation,  however,  was  made, 
there  has  undoubtedly  been  an  improvement  in  conditions 
of  the  kind  noted.  Minimum  wage  commissions  and  other 
organizations  have  long  interested  themselves  in  the 
problem.  Special  administrative  measures  provided 
through  liberalizing  legislation  have  assumed  active  regu- 
lation of  the  employment  of  women  looking  toward  better 
wages  and  shorter  hours  of  work;  more  particularly  is 
this  true  as  regards  women  and  girls  in  stores. 

«0p.  Cit.,  Vol.  V,  p.  28. 


192  COXDITIOXS    OF   LABOR 

IXDU5TRL\L  ACCIDENTS 

The  fact  that  workmen's  compensation  laws  are  now 
in  eflFect  in  31  States  and  in  Alaska  and  Hawaii  is  ample 
evidence  of  public  recognition  of  the  industrial  accident 
problem  in  the  United  States.  The  rapid  growth  of  the 
"safety  first*'  movement  justifies  the  belief  that  em- 
ployers as  well  as  the  public  have  realized  the  economic 
importance  of  preventing  the  waste  of  human  life  and 
efficiency  which  results  from  accidents  in  industrial  estab- 
lishments. Already  the  industrial  accident  hazard  is 
being  considerably  reduced  by  the  installation  of  safety 
devices,  by  gradually  eliminating  risks  which  were  once 
thought  to  be  necessan,-,  but  which  now  are  seen  to  be 
avoidable,  and  by  educational  measures  designed  to  make 
the  individual  more  careful  and  intelligent  in  his  work  in 
occupations  where  there  is  an  element  of  danger.  In  this 
respect,  working  conditions  have  been  much  improved 
during  the  last  few  years.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  bene- 
ficial results  are  stimulating  employers  and  employees  to 
take  an  interest  in  accident  prevention  which  is  more  than 
mere  obedience  to  statutorv*  regulations,  and  that  the 
movement  for  "safety  first"  is  accelerating. 

Extent  of  Industrial  'Accidents. — Probably  the  most 
trustworthy  estimate  of  the  extent  of  industrial  accidents 
is  that  made  for  19 13  by  Mr.  Frederick  L.  Hoffman,  of 
the  Prudential  Life  Insurance  Company.  His  estimate 
is  based  on  statistics  from  the  publications  of  the  U.  S. 
Census,  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,  various  State  reports, 
and  the  industrial  experience  of  the  Prudential  Company. 
"The  probable  approximate  number  of  fatal  industrial 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  193 

accidents,"  he  says,  "among  American  wage-earners,  in- 
cluding both  sexes,  may  be  conservatively  estimated  at 
25,000  for  the  year  1913,  and  the  number  of  injuries  in- 
volving a  disability  of  more  than  four  weeks  ...  at 
approximately  700,000."  ^  The  lack  of  accurate  and 
comparable  statistics  relating  to  industrial  accidents 
renders  any  estimate  of  doubtful  value ;  only  when  the 
most  conservative  data  are  used  in  making  a  general  esti- 
mate, as  ]Mr.  Hoffman  has  done,  is  the  estimate  of  any 
possible  value  in  indicating  the  gravity  of  the  accident 
hazard  as  a  condition  affecting  the  American  workingman. 
As  Mr.  Hoffman  points  out,  "At  the  present  time  there 
are  no  entirely  complete  and  trustworthy  industrial  acci- 
dent statistics  for  even  a  single  important  industry  in  the 
United  States.  The  most  reliable  data  are  those  for  the 
Iron  and  steel  industry,  mining,  and  railways.  For  most 
of  the  other  groups  the  assumed  industrial  accident  rates 
are  relatively  low,  and  in  all  probability  the  actual  hazards 
.  .  .  are  somewhat  higher  than"  those  upon  which  he 
based  his  estimate.  This  lack  of  data  is  due  to  the  absence 
of  uniform  requirements  in  the  various  States  for  the  re- 
porting of  industrial  accidents,  to  the  practise  of  using 
the  average  number  of  employees  as  a  basis  for  determin- 
ing rates,  and  to  the  failure  to  take  account  of  the  period 
during  which  the  employees  are  employed.  As  the  ex- 
perience of  workmen's  compensation  laws  increases,  how- 
ever, more  accurate  and  complete  statistics  may  be  ex- 

•U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics:  Bulletin  157 — Industrial  Accident  Statis- 
tics, by  Frederick  L.  Hoffman,  p.  6.  In  estimating  the  number  of  injuries  involv- 
ing a  disability  of  more  than  four  weeks,  Mr.  Hoffman  has  used  the  ratio  of 
Austrian  experience  as  indicated  by  statistics  of  fatal  and  non-fatal  industrial 
accidents  in  Austria,  1897  to  1911  (,Ibid.,  p.  147). 


194  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 

pected.     Already  a  well-defined  effort  is  being  made  to 
secure  greater  uniformity  and  accuracy  of  reports. 

Occupational  Accident  Hazards. — Even  such  statistics 
as  are  now  available  point  very  clearly  to  the  fact  that  in 
some  occupations  the  danger  of  accidents  is  much  greater 
than  in  others.  Altho  the  data  are  not  accurate  enough 
for  exact  determinations  of  occupational  hazards,  they 
are  sufficiently  accurate  to  indicate  that  industrial  acci- 
dents constitute  a  very  much  more  serious  condition  of 
work  in  certain  occupations  than  in  others  and  that  the 
worker  in  those  occupations  is  subjected  to  the  danger  of 
injury  or  death  more  frequently  than  the  average  in- 
dividual in  other  walks  of  life.  Metal  and  coal  mining 
appear  to  be  the  most  hazardous,  with  railroad  employ- 
ment, quarrying,  and  the  lumber  industry  well  up  the  list 
of  dangerous  occupations.  They  are  apparently  more 
hazardous  than  the  occupation  of  soldier  in  the  United 
States  Army,  and  between  two  and  three  times  as  hazard- 
ous as  the  average  for  all  occupations  in  which  males  are 
employed.^  The  accident  mortality  statistics  of  the  U.  S. 
Census  Bureau,  while  unsatisfactory  for  purposes  of 
exact  analysis,  are  sufficiently  accurate  to  present  in 
statistical  form  those  wide  differences  in  the  occupational 

'  The  following  table  of  estimates  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Frederick  L.  Hoffman 
showing  the  probable  accident  rates  for  some  of  the  typical  and  representative 
groups  of  occupations.  Mr.  Hoffman  presented  the  table  in  his  study  of  indus- 
trial accident  statistics  which  has  already  been  referred  to,  with  the  following 
note: 

"The  fatality  rates  used  in  this  estimate  arc  approximations.  They  are 
slightly  at  variance  with  the  exact  rates  for  certain  industries,  particularly  min- 
ing, for  the  year  1913.  For  metal  mines  in  1913  the  fatality  rate,  according  to 
the  Bureau  of  Mines,  was  3.54  per  1.000;  for  coal  mines,  3.73;  for  quarries,  1.73. 
In  the  estimate  it  is  assumed  that  for  these  industries  in  particular  the  approxi- 
mate rates  indicate  more  accurately  the  average  risk  for  a  period  of  years,  it 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  195 

hazards  from  accidents  which  are  already  estabhshed  by 
observation  and  in  general  experience.  The  table  on  p. 
196  presents  the  combined  statistics  for  two  years  for  all 
occupations,  and  for  certain  occupations,  in  the  registra- 
tion area,  the  occupations  being  selected  (some  being  non- 
industrial)  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  comparisons. 


being  considered  that  even  the  official  rates  fall  short  of  absolute  accuracy  and 
completeness  in  the  absence  of  a  Federal  law  making  the  reporting  of  mine  acci- 
dents compulsory  upon  all  operators.  The  estimate  was  arrived  at  before  Techni- 
cal Paper  94  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines  was  published." 


ESTIMATE  OF  FATAL  INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES  IN  1913.  BY  INDUSTRY  GROUPS 

Industry  Group  Number  Fatal  Rate 

j|.  employees  a  industrial        per 

^"'^•^  of  accidents  a     1,000 

Metal  mining 170,000  680  4.00 

Coalmining 750,000  2,625  3.50 

Fisheries 150,000  450  3.00 

Navigation        150,000  450  3.00 

Railroad  employees 1,750,000  4,200  2.40 

Electricians   (light  and  power) 68,000  153  2.25 

Navy  and  Marine  Corps       62,000  115  1.85 

Quarrying 150,000  255  1.70 

Lumber  industry 531,000  797  1.50 

Soldiers,  United  States  Army 73,000  109  1.49 

Building  and  construction 1,500,000  1,875  1.25 

Draymen,  teamsters,  etc 686,000  686  1.00 

Street  railway  employees 320,000  320  1.00 

Watchme  ,  policemen,  firemen 200,000  150               .75 

Telephone   and    telegraph    (including    line- 
men)   245,000  123               .50 

Agricultural     pursuits,     including    forestry 

and  animal  husbandry 12,000,000  4,200               .35 

Manufacturing   (general)      7,277,000  1,819               .25 

All  other  occupied  males      4,678,000  3,508               .75 

All  occupied  males 30,760,000  22,515               .73 

All  occupied  females . .  7,200,000  540              .075 

a  Partly  estimated. 


196 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


ACCIDENT  MORTALITY.  UNITED  STATES  REGISTRATION  AREA,  BY 
AGE  GROUPS,  IN  SPECIFIED  OCCUPATIONS.  1908  AND  1909  « 

Per  cent,  of  deaths  due  to  accidents  and  injuries 


•2  <U  ••3    C  I-  4) 

Age  Group              3  g  «Ec/2  o  "g^ 

o  o-ocD          w  eg 

<J  O  03  O  w 

15-19 26.4  17.3  17.9  28.6  40.0 

20-24 21.6  7.3  16.0  8.0  31.0 

25-34 17.9  5.4  17.4  9.9  27.1 

35-44 14.0  4.8  10.3  7.7  19.3 

45-54 10.1  4.5  7.6  9.4  12.5 

55-64 6.3  3.4  ....            5.0  6.8 

65  and  over     ..       3.6  3.6  4.4  3.0  2.5 

Total..       ..      10.5  5.9  12.9  9.3  16.0 
a  Includes  accountants,  bookkeepers,  clerks,  and  copyists. 


rt  a 


il  0 

41     v. 

.S3 

go. 

l3& 

24.1 

71.8 

80.6 

13.7 

66.2 

73.3 

10.6 

61.7 

66.1 

10.0 

47.2 

55.8 

6.6 

28.3 

45.7 

5.3 

13.6 

29.3 

4.7 

6.8 

18.3 

39.3 


52.5 


As  the  foregoing  statistics  suggest,  the  mortality  from 
accidents  and  injuries  is  much  above  the  average  among 
workers  of  working  age  in  iron  and  steel  manufacturing, 
mining  and  quarrying,  and  on  railroads,  and  is  far  greater 
than  among  office  workers,  textile  and  glass  workers,  and 
even  United  States  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines. 

The  industrial  mortality  experience  of  the  Prudential 
Life  Insurance  Company  permits  more  exact  specifica- 
tions as  to  occupation,  and  covers  a  longer  period  of 
time,  altho  a  more  selected  group  of  persons,  than 
in  the  case  of  the  Census  mortality  data.  The  follow- 
ing table  presents  the  proportionate  mortality  of  males 
from  accidents  in  all  occupations  and  in  certain  speci- 
fied industrial  occupations  which  show  unusually  high 
accident  mortality  rates : 

"  Compiled  from  data  in  "Mortality  Statirtics,"  1908  and  1909,  U.  S.  Census 
Bureau,  and  published  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin  157,  supra 
cit.,  pp.  23-30. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  .197 

PROPORTIONATE    MORTALITY    OF    MALES    FROM    ACCIDENTS,    BY 

OCCUPATIONS  AND  AGE  GROUPS,  PRUDENTIAL  EXPERIENCE 

1907  TO  1912  » 

Percentage  of  deaths  due  to  accidents  among 
,— ^ ^ 

•3  c  I  £  «  -3  E 

Age  Group  "S  .S  "S^^  S         ^  "         "^  »         1^ 

■|  J         ^.S       -S  i;       I'i        «|        •£ 

^  S         Is        I  -s        S^i        §^        S 

lS-24 20.7  56.9  60.0         66.7  32.7  56.5  26.5  68.1 

25-34 12.8  42.3  18.5         83.3  21.3  34.3  25.9  55.2 

35-44 10.2  34.3  12.5         66.7  13.0  14.3  15.8  34.3 

45-54 8.9  20.4  28.6         66.7  11.8  12.1  10.2  38.3 

55-64 6.4  12.9  14.3       100.0  2.5  20.8  7.9  8.3 

65  and  over     ..  4.1  5.1          1.4  15.0  4.9  SO.O 

TotaL.       ..       9.4         23.2         24.7         72.0         13.1         25.6         15.4         49.6 
a  Miscellaneous  workers  in  iron  and  steel  mills. 

Causes  of  Industrial  Accidents. — Fundamentally,  it 
may  be  said,  industrial  accidents  are  due  to  the  failure 
on  the  part  of  industrial  management  to  make  provisions 
against  accidents,  and  keep  pace  with  the  development  of 
rapid,  ponderous,  and  intricate  machinery  and  dangerous 
processes,  and  to  fatigue  and  strain  caused  by  too  long 
continued  work  and  by  monotonous  work,  and  to  care- 
lessness on  the  part  of  employees.  With  the  realization 
that  accidents  are  not  necessary  sacrifices  to  industry, 
much  of  the  past  indifference  is  passing  away,  the  danger 
points  in  mechanical  processes  are  being  sought  out, 
methods  of  industrial  managements  are  being  scrutinized 
in  the  light  of  the  newer  standard  of  valuing  human  life 
and  efficiency,  and  educational  efforts  are  resulting  in  a 
higher  valuation  of  human  efficiency  and  lives.  No  bet- 
ter indication  of  this  fact  is  found  than  the  collection  and 
analysis  of  statistical  data  relating  to  the  causes  of  indus- 
trial accidents  as  a  necessary  means  to  their  preventioa 

*Ihid..  pp.   lis,  116,  and   117. 


198  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Several  State  reports  have  afforded  an  intelligent  be- 
ginning in  the  study  of  the  causes  of  accidents,  and  large 
numbers  of  employers  are  accumulating  data  from  ex- 
perience in  their  own  plants.  The  New  York  State  De- 
partment of  Labor  has  published  annually  statistics  of 
accidents  from  1901  to  the  present.  Of  the  causes  of 
2,819  fatal  industrial  accidents  occurring  during  period 
191 1  to  1914,  the  percentage  of  distribution  is  as  follows: 

COMPARATIVE  PERCENTAGES  OF  FATAL  ACCIDENTS  IN  FACTORIES, 

MINES  AND  QUARRIES,  AND  BUILDING  AND  ENGINEERING,  IN 

THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  1911  TO  1914,  BY  MAIN  CAUSES 

Building 
Factories         Mines        Engineering 

Mechanical  power 42.3  26.8  31.6 

Heat  and  electricity 23.9  24.7  14.6 

Fall  of  person 18.4  8.2  33.2 

Weights  and  falling  objects  ..      ..  7.5  36.1  15.0 

Miscellaneous 7.9  4.2  5.6 

Number  of  accidents      1,081  97  1,641 

More  complete  data  were  obtained  for  191 4  than  for 
preceding  years.  The  1914  report  ^"  showed  that  of  the 
various  causes  of  non- fatal  accidents  by  far  the  most 
significant  was  power  machinery.  To  this  factor  were 
chargeable  26.7  per  cent,  out  of  a  total  of  88,314  non- 
fatal accidents  reported  during  the  year.  Of  this  pro- 
portion 18.7  per  cent,  were  chargeable  to  machines  at 
which  the  person  injured  was  working,  5.4  per  cent,  to 
conveying  and  hoisting  machinery,  2.6  per  cent,  to  trans- 
mission power.  Next  to  power  machinery  as  a  factor  in 
causing  non-fatal  accidents  are  weights  and  falling 
objects,  which  accounted  for  24.4  per  cent. ;  hand  tools 

10  New  York  Department  of  Labor,  Special  Bulletin,  issued  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Industrial  Commission.  No.  75;  Statistics  of  industrial  accidents, 
1914.     Prepared  by  tlie  lUircau  of  Statistics  and  Information. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  199 

accounted  for  10.8  per  cent. ;  fall  of  person,  9.6  per  cent. ; 
heat  and  electricity,  6.9  per  cent. ;  and  vehicles  and 
animals,  2.5  per  cent. ;  while  miscellaneous  causes — in- 
cluding knocking  against  objects,  stepping  upon  or  strik- 
ing against  nails,  handling  sharp  objects,  flying  objects, 
whose  source  is  unknown,  poisoning  gases,  etc. — ac- 
counted for  1 9. 1  per  cent. 

Power  machinery  was  held  to  be  responsible  for  50  per 
cent,  or  over  of  the  accidents  in  printing  and  paper  goods, 
wood  manufacturing,  furs,  leather  and  rubber  goods,  and 
in  textiles.^^  High  proportions  of  accidents  due  to  fall  of 
person  were  shown  for  chemicals,  oils,  paints,  etc. ;  paper, 
clothing,  millinery,  laundry,  etc. ;  food,  liquor,  and  to- 
bacco ;  and  water,  light,  and  power.  This  was  explained 
as  due  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  employees  work  on 
wet  and  slippery  floors  in  many  of  these  industries.  A 
special  study  was  made  of  1,571  machinery  accidents 
during  the  years  191 3  and  19 14  with  a  view  to  ascertain- 
ing the  relation  of  the  use  of  guards  to  the  occurrence  of 
accidents.  In  34.8  per  cent,  of  the  accidents  guards  were 
used  and  in  10.7  per  cent,  guards  were  provided  but  not 
used ;  in  34  per  cent,  a  guard  was  practicable  but  not  pro- 
vided at  the  time  of  the  accident,  and  in  only  17  per  cent, 
were  guards  not  practicable.  The  Department  was  led 
to  make  the  following  statement : 

''  The  highest  proportion  of  accidents  due  to  power  machinery  were  found  in 
the  following  factory  industries: 

Printing  and  paper  goods 54.9  per  cent. 

Wood   manufacturing 54.5  per  cent. 

Furs,  leather  and  rubber  goods 54.0  per  cent. 

Textiles 49.3  per  cent. 

Clothing,  millinery,  etc 44.2  per  cent. 

Paper         37.0  per  cent. 


200  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

*'The  two  outstanding  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
the  facts  as  ascertained  are  these :  First,  that  neither 
employers  nor  employees  recognize  the  necessity  of  utiliz- 
ing to  the  fullest  extent  the  known  means  of  guarding 
machinery  to  prevent  accidents;  and,  second,  that  our 
knowledge  of  practicable  and  effective  machine  guards  is 
still  elementary." 

The  lack  of  uniformity  in  methods  of  reporting  causes 
of  industrial  accidents  in  various  States  prevents  com- 
parisons ;  at  the  same  time  the  different  methods  of  re- 
porting and  presenting  statistics  permits  the  viewing  of 
accident  causes  from  different  standpoints.  For  ex- 
ample, the  principal  causes  of  474  fatal  accidents  oc- 
curring in  Massachusetts  during  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1913,  are  classified  as  follows: 

CAUSES  OF  FATAL  ACCIDENTS,  UNDER  THE  MASSACHUSETTS 

WORKMEN'S  COMPENSATION  ACT,  JULY   1.   1912, 

TO  JUNE  30,  1913" 

Cause  Fatal 

accidents 
Railroad  equipment 119 


Cause 

Fatal 

accidents 

Boiler    explosions 

and 

burns         IS 

Excavating.  . 

14 

Cranes.  . 

11 

Miscellaneous 

(unc 

lassified) 

11 

Asphyxiation, 

drowning 

,  etc. 

10 

All  other  causes. . 

..       70 

Falls 66 

Vehicles       43 

Hand  labor 37 

Elevators 33 

Electricity 25 

Street  railways 20  

Total 474 

The  California  Industrial  Accident  Commission's  ex- 
perience for  the  year  ending  June  30,  191 5,  may  be  sum- 
marized as  follows:  Of  the  678  fatal  accidents  nearly 
22  per  cent,  were  caused  by  collisions,  20.94  by  persons 
falling,  and  20.06  by  "dangerous  substances";  of  1,292 
accidents  resulting  in  permanent  injuries,  45  per  cent. 

"  First  Annual   Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Industrial  Accident  Board, 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  201 

were  caused  by  machinery;  of  the  60,241  accidents  re- 
sulting in  temporary  disabihty,  28  per  cent,  were  caused 
by  falHng  objects  and  20  per  cent,  by  "dangerous  sub- 
stances." ^^ 

Probably  the  most  detailed  study  so  far  published 
of  special  causes  of  industrial  accidents  was  made 
by  the  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission  and  pub- 
lished in  1912.  An  analysis  was  made  of  5,241  acci- 
dents by  causes,  of  which  112,  or  2.14  per  cent.,  were 
fatal.  It  was  found  that  the  principal  cause  of  acci- 
dents was  collapse,  falls,  or  hit  by  objects,  numbering 
1,102,  or  21.03  P^i"  cent,  of  the  total.  The  next  most 
important  cause  was  accidents  in  connection  with 
the  loading  or  unloading  of  heavy  objects,  numbering 
600,  or  11.45  Pc^  cent,  of  the  accidents  due  to  all  causes. 
Accidents  due  to  falls  of  all  kinds  numbered  684,  or  13.06 
per  cent,  of  the  aggregate.  These  three  groups  of  causes, 
therefore,  accounted  for  2,386  accidents,  or  45.53  per 
cent,  of  the  aggregate,  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1912. 

Of  the  accidents  due  to  falls,  it  may  be  noted,  10  per 
cent,  were  found  to  be  falls  from  ladders,  21  per  cent, 
from  scaffolds,  tramways,  trestles,  etc.,  14  per  cent,  from 
wagons,  cars  and  other  vehicles,  and  28  per  cent,  by 
slipping,  stumbling,  and  jumping.  Most  of  these  ac- 
cidents, the  Commission  concluded,  were  preventable.'* 
The  accidents  resulting  in  burns  occurred  principally  in 
hot-metal-working  industries,  particularly  foundries, 
where  there  is  danger  from  sparks  and  from  splashes  of 

^' Report  of  the  California  Industrial  Accident  Commission,  July  1,  1914,  to 
June  30,  1915. 

"  Industrial  Commission  of  Wisconsin,  Shop  Bulletin  No.  3A. 


202  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

molten  metal/^  The  Commission  pointed  out  that  of  the 
311  accidents  reported  as  resulting  in  burns,  20  per  cent, 
occurred  while  metal  was  being  poured  into  molds;  17 
per  cent,  while  molten  metal  was  being  carried  in  hand 
ladles;  11  per  cent,  because  of  stumbling  and  obstructed 
passageways;  10  per  cent,  while  ladles  were  being  filled 
at  the  cupola.  "Metal  explosions,"  said  the  Commission, 
"caused  19  accidents;  18  were  caused  by  metal  running 
out  of  molds,  and  in  12  cases  the  ladle  was  defective  and 
the  hot  metal  broke  through.  The  remaining  accidents 
were  due  to  various  other  causes :  men  carrying  ladles 
bumped  into  each  other,  spilling  the  metal ;  on  tapping  the 
cupola  the  sparks  of  metal  burned  men  standing  near; 
ladles  and  crucibles  fell  from  crane  hooks  and  tongs, 
splashing  the  contents  in  all  directions;  ladle  trucks 
jumped  the  tracks,  tipping  over  and  spilling  the 
metal,  etc.  In  over  70  per  cent,  of  these  accidents  de- 
scribed above  the  injured  persons  had  one  or  both  feet 
seriously  burned.  Forty-three  cases  resulted  in  injured 
eyes,  one  of  which  caused  permanent  impairment  of 
sight;  19  cases  resulted  in  burns  to  the  legs,  and  26  to 
other  parts  of  the  body." 

Probably  no  industry  has  so  many  serious  accident 
hazards  as  coal  mining.  The  statistics  for  19 12,  for  ex- 
ample, as  presented  by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,^* 
showed  that  of  all  the  fatalities  in  coal  mining,  89.79  P^'' 
cent,  occurred  underground.  Of  the  total,  41.19  per  cent, 
were  caused  by  falls  of  roof  (coal,  rock,  etc.),  and  7.58 

>5  Ibid..  Shop  Bulletin  No.  4. 

'» Coal  Mine  Accidents  in  the  United  States,  1896-1912,  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Mines. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  203 

per  cent,  additional  by  falls  of  coal  other  than  roof  coal. 
The  next  most  important  cause  of  mine  accidents  was 
mine  cars  and  locomotives,  responsible  for  15.34  per  cent, 
of  the  total,  followed  by  gas  explosions  and  burning  gas, 
accountable  for  6.95  per  cent.  Coal-dust  explosions  dur- 
ing the  year  accounted  for  only  1.27  per  cent,  of  the  ac- 
cidents from  all  causes,  and  explosions  of  coal  dust  and 
gas  combined,  but  exclusive  of  coal-dust  explosions 
separately  considered,  account  for  4.53  per  cent.  "Prob- 
ably no  industry,"  as  Mr.  Hoffman  points  out,  "is  so  sub- 
ject to  exceptional  hazards  as  coal  mining  unless  it  be  the 
manufacture  of  explosives,  with  regard  to  which  trust- 
worthy American  data  are  not  available  at  the  present 
time."  '' 

Nature  of  Injuries. — What  appear  to  be  representative 
statistics  of  the  character  of  injuries  resulting  from  in- 
dustrial accidents  indicate  that  the  majority  of  injuries 
occurring  in  factories  and  in  building  are  lacerations,  cuts 
and  bruises.  In  factories  between  5  and  10  per  cent, 
of  injuries  are  burns,  nearly  5  per  cent,  are  sprains  and 
dislocations,  and  an  even  smaller  proportion  are  frac- 
tures. This  distribution  of  injuries  according  to  their 
character  in  a  typical  manufacturing  state  is  shown  by 
the  statistics  collected  by  the  New  York  State  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  for  the  period  April,  191 1,  to  March,  1913. 
The  same  statistics  indicate  that  complete  severance  or 
loss  of  a  member  occurred  in  3.1  per  cent,  of  the  acci- 
dents in  manufacturing  industries,  and  that  death  oc- 
curred in  less  than  one-half  of   i  per  cent.     Fatal  ac- 

"U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin  157.     Sup.  cit.,  p.  106. 


204  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

cidents  were  most  frequent  in  building  and  engineering 
and  in  mining  and  quarrying.  The  New  York  experience 
is  summarized  in  the  following  table  : 

NATURE  OF  INJURIES  RESULTING  FROM  INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS 
IN  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  APRIL,  1911,  TO  MARCH,  1913  " 

Per  cent,  of  total  injuries  in  a 

, " _ , 

Building        Mining  ^jj 

Nature  of  Injury  Factories       and  engi-  and        industries 

neering      quarrying 
Lacerations,  cuts,  and  bruises       . .     68.7  64.1  66.7  67.4 

Burns 7.9  3.2  2.4  6.5 

Sprains  or  dislocations 4.1  5.0  4.0  4.4 

Fractures 2.5  3.9  6.1  2.9 

Suffocation,  effect  of  heat,  gas,  etc.         .2  .5  .4  .3 

Multiple   or   other   injuries     . .      . .      16.6  23.3  20.4  18.5 

Total 100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0 

Fatalities    (included   above)    ....  .4  1.5  2.4  .7 

Complete  severance  or  loss  of  mem- 
ber or  part 3.1  1.0  1.8  2.5 

a  The  total  accidents  occurring  during  the  period,  classified  by  industrial 
groups,  were  as  follows:  Factories  102,683;  Building  and  engineering  41,032; 
Mining  and  quarrying  1,667;  total  145,382. 

The  character  of  injuries  resulting  from  industrial  ac- 
cidents is  perhaps  better  indicated  in  the  following  table 
which  has  been  compiled  from  the  New  York  State  re- 
ports by  Mr.  Hoffman.  It  presents  an  analysis,  accord- 
ing to  the  part  of  the  body  injured,  of  the  New  York 
experience  already  referred  to,  and  is  given  on  p.  205. 

Some  interesting  comparisons  are  suggested  by  these 
statistics.  For  example,  it  appears  that  in  manu- 
facturing industries  10  per  cent,  of  the  accidents 
were  injuries  to  the  eyes,  against  y."/  per  cent,  in  mining 
and  quarrying  and  3.2  per  cent,  in  building  and  engineer- 

"  Compiled  from  Bulletins  48  to  55.  Department  of  Labor,  State  of  New 
York,  published  in  compiled  form  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin 
157,  sup.  cit.,  p.  43. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  205 

INDUSTRIAL  ACCIDENTS  IN  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  BY  PARTS 
OF  THE  BODY  INJURED,  APRIL,  1911,  TO  MARCH,  1913  " 

Accidents  in 


Part  Injured 


Building  and  Mining  and 

Manufacturing  engineering  quarrying 


Eyes 

Other    head    injuries 

Trunk  or  internal 

Arms  or  hands 

Fingers 

Legs  or  feet    . . 

Multiple  or  other 


Per  Per  Per 

Number  cent.  Number  cent.  Number  cent. 

.    10,312  10.0  1,331  3.2  128  7.7 

.     8,548  8.3  7,305  17.8  194  11.6 

,     5,402  5.3  2,602  6.3  91  5.5 

,    17,197  16.8  6,050  14.8  197  11.8 

,   38,400  37.4  8,259  20.1  451  27.0 

,    18,162  17.7  11,032  26.9  435  26.1 

.     4,662  4.5  4,453  10.9  171  10.3 


Total 102,683         100.0         41,032         100.0         1,667.         100.0 

ing.  Nearly  40  per  cent,  of  the  accidents  in  manufactur- 
ing establishments  were  injuries  to  fingers,  against  20  per 
cent,  in  building  and  engineering,  while  less  than  20  per 
cent,  of  accidents  in  manufacturing  establishments  were 
injuries  to  legs  and  feet,  against  over  25  per  cent,  in  the 
two  other  groups  of  industries.  Because  of  the  relative 
unimportance  of  mining  in  New  York  State,  the  statistics 
are  probably  not  thoroughly  representative  of  that  in- 
dustry, and  reference  may  be  made  to  the  statistics  col- 
lected by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines.  These  data  are  not 
given  in  as  much  detail,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  nature 
of  the  injury,  as  the  New  York  statistics,  but  they  will 
suffice  to  indicate  the  general  character  of  the  accidents 
occurring  in  metal  mines  and  in  quarries  in  the  United 
States  as  a  whole.  They  are  summarized  in  the  following 
tabulation : 

"  Ibid.,  p.  44. 


206  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

NUMBER  AND  PER  CENT.  OF  MEN  KILLED  AND  INJURED  IN  AND 

ABOUT  METAL  (AND  MISCELLANEOUS  MINERAL)  MINES  AND 

QUARRIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  AND  RATES  PER  10,000 

EMPLOYED,  BY  GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  INJURY,  1912  =<> 

Mines  Quarries 

Total  killed  and  injured 31,395  7,922 

Fatally  injured : 

Number 661  183 

Per  cent,  of  total       2.2  2.3 

Rate  per  10,000  employed       . .     . .  39.06  17.22 

Seriously  injured : 

Number 4,502  1,092 

Per  cent,  of  total       14.3  13.8 

Rate  per  10,000  employed       . .     . .  266.08  102.75 

Slightly  injured : 

Number 26,232  6,647 

Per  cent,  of  total       83.5  83.9 

Rate  per  10,000  employed       . .     . .  1,550.36  625.45 

The  foregoing  statistics  will  be  understood  more  clearly 
if  definitions  of  terms  are  given.  According  to  the  bulle- 
tins from  which  the  statistics  are  taken,  a  "serious"  in- 
jury was  considered  to  be  one  disabling  a  man  from  work 
for  "20  days  or  more,"  and  included  broken  arms  and 
legs,  the  loss  of  an  eye  or  eyes,  and  severe  cuts  and 
bruises;  a  "slight"  injury  was  considered  to  be  one  in- 
volving loss  of  working  time  of  "not  less  than  i  day  nor 
more  than  20  days"  and  included  cuts,  sprains,  mashed 
fingers,  bruises,  slight  burns,  effect  of  powder  smoke, 
etc.^' 

"Slight"  injuries,  how^ever,  may  become  "serious"  in- 
juries by  becoming  infected,  as  pointed  out  by  the  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Mines  in  presenting  the  foregoing  statistics. 

*>  Compiled  from  Metal  Mine  and  Quarry  Accidents  in  the  United  States, 
1912,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines.  The  rates  per  10,000  employed  were  computed  by 
Frederick  L.  Hoffman  and  published  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin 
157,  sut.  cit..  pp.   109-111. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  108,  quoting  from  Technical  Paper  40,  Bureau  of  Mines,  191.1. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  207 

iWith  respect  to  this  point,  it  is  of  interest  to  note  the 
data  obtained  by  the  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission  in 
the  course  of  a  study  of  special  causes  of  industrial  ac- 
cidents.^" As  summarized  in  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics bulletin  on  industrial  accidents/^  it  was  found  that 
"a  large  number  of  minor  accidents  result  in  infection, 
which  often  can  be  prevented  only  by  the  earliest  possible 
qualified  treatment."  This  summary  of  the  Wisconsin 
report  continues : 

"Of  the  accidents  reported  to  the  Commission  during 
the  two  years  ending  with  September  i,  191 3,  721,  or  4.8 
per  cent.,  resulted  in  infection  of  the  injured  member. 
The  accidents  themselves  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
trivial,  and  would  have  resulted  in  but  a  very  few  days' 
disability  each  if  properly  treated.  On  account  of  neglect 
or  indifference,  over  12,500  working  days  were  lost,  or 
an  average  of  17  days  per  case.  In  five  cases  the  injuries 
terminated  fatally,  and  in  four  others  the  injured  mem- 
ber had  to  be  amputated  to  save  the  patient's  life.  The 
Commission  estimates  that  the  compensation  and  medical 
aid  in  the  721  cases  referred  to  under  the  present  work- 
men's compensation  law  of  Wisconsin  would  have  cost 
employers  about  $40,000.  They  refer  to  the  experience 
of  several  large  Wisconsin  manufacturing  companies  in 
preventing  infection  by  the  proper  handling  of  all  ac- 
cidents, no  matter  how  slight,  and  the  consequent  practical 
elimination  of  serious  results." 

Economic  Significance  of  Industrial  Accidents. — The 

"  Industrial  Commission  of  Wisconsin,   Shop  Bulletin   No.   S. 
23  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin  157,  p.  96. 


2o8  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

serious  consequences  to  a  wage-earner's  family  resulting 
from  the  removal  by  fatal  accident  or  the  maiming  and 
incapacitating  of  its  breadwinner  hardly  need  to  be 
pointed  out.  They  are  suggested  by  the  statistics  showing 
accident  mortality  rates  according  to  age  which  have 
already  been  quoted,  the  large  number  of  workers  killed 
by  accidents  between  the  ages  of  25  and  45  indicating  the 
frequency  with  which  fatal  accidents  occur  in  that  period 
in  which  the  ordinary  worker  has  a  family  dependent 
upon  him  for  support.  Statistics  published  by  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  of  Illinois  emphasize  the  economic 
importance  of  industrial  accidents  because  they  show  the 
conjugal  condition  of  injured  persons.  The  following 
table  affords  statistics  for  3,283  persons  fatally  injured 
and  26,303  persons  who  were  victims  of  non- fatal  ac- 
cidents : 


CONJUGAL  CONDITIONS  AS  FAR  AS  REPORTED  OF  PERSONS  KILLED 

OR  INJURED  IN  ILLINOIS  INDUSTRIES,  JULY  1.  1907.  TO 

DECEMBER  31.   1912" 

Fatal  accidents  Non-fatal  accidents 

, ' ^  , ' N 

Industry                                        Married      Per  Injuries  to      Per 

Persons     persons     cent.  Persons      married        cent, 

killed          killed  married  injured      persons     married 

Coalmining 1,112            665         59.8  4,225           2,357         5S.0 

Contracting 81               50         61.7  623              377         60.5 

Manufacturing     ..      ..       540            349         64.6  13,221           7,470         56.5 
Railroading: 

Elevated 22              15         68.2  5                  2         40.0 

Interurban         ....         40               21          52.5  116                 72          62.1 

Steam        1,301            846         65.0  5,581           3,516         63.0 

Street 44              28         63.6  304               187         61.5 

Underground    ....         10                 4          40.0  106                 62          58.5 

Stone    quarrying..      ..19               10          52.6  127                 75          59.1 

Miscellaneous       ....       114              60         52.6  1,995            1.102         55.2 

Total       3,283         2,048         62.4  26,303          15,220         57.8 

**  Ibid.,  p.  60. 


IN   AMERICAN    INDUSTRIES  209 

The  Illinois  statistics  for  the  five  years  ending  with 
19 1 2  showed  that  the  3,084  persons  killed  in  industrial 
accidents  had  4,872  children  and  dependents,  and  that  the 
25,696  injured  workers  had  28,626  children  and  de- 
pendents. This,  as  has  been  remarked,  "is  unquestionably 
a  considerable  understatement  of  the  facts."  The  eco- 
nomic significance  of  the  industrial  accident  problem  is 
also  suggested  by  statistics  showing  the  loss  of  time 
suffered  by  injured  workers.  Such  data  are  afforded  by 
several  of  the  more  intelligently  prepared  state  reports. 
For  example,  two  recent  reports  of  the  Ohio  Industrial 
Commission  "^  permit  the  following  tabulation,  the  data 
for  coal  mining  being  given  separately  for  purposes  of 
comparison : 

DURATION  OF  DISABILITY  IN  INJURIES  RECEIVED  IN  COAL  MINES, 
AND  IN  ALL  INDUSTRIES,  IN  OHIO.  IN   1914 

Coal  mining  All  industries 

Classified  Duration       ,, ^ >,     , ^ ,^ 

Number            Per  cent.  Number             Per  cent. 

Under  1  week 482                   24.7  38.666                   54.2 

1  and  under  2  weeks..      ..       318                   16.3  11,267                   15.8 

2  and  under  3  weeks. .      ..       308                   15.8  7,699                   10.8 

3  and  under  4  weeks..      ..       244                     12.5  4,406                      6.2 

4  and  under  13  weeks.  ..  510  26.1  8,183  11.4 
13  weeks  and  over  ....  90  4.6  1,122  1.6 
Not  reported 44                      a 

Total       .,      1,952  100.0  71,387  100.0 

a  Less  than  one-tenth  of  1  per  cent. 

From  the  foregoing  table  it  appears  that  45.8  per  cent, 
of  the  accidents  in  all  industries  resulted  in  disability  last- 
ing one  week  or  longer,  30  per  cent,  in  disability  lasting 
two  weeks  or  longer,  and  13  per  cent,  in  disability  lasting 
four  weeks  or  longer.     The  severity  of  accidents  in  coal 

"  Industrial  Commission  of  Ohio,  Department  of  Investigation  and  Statistics, 
Reports  Nos.  18  and  19,  1916  (for  1914).  Fred  C.  Croxton,  Chief  Statistician. 


2IO  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

mines  is  indicated  to  be  considerably  greater  than  that 
in  other  industries,  since  30.7  per  cent,  of  the  coal  mine 
accidents  resulted  in  disability  lasting  four  weeks  or 
longer.  The  experience  of  the  Massachusetts  Industrial 
Accident  Board  affords  similar  data  for  a  large  Eastern 
manufacturing  State.  Its  experience  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  19 13,  showed  that  of  the  89,694  non-fatal  acci- 
dents, 68,586,  or  76.5  per  cent.,  were  reported  as  injuries 
which  incapacitated  the  employee  for  two  weeks  or  less. 
About  41  per  cent  of  the  non- fatal  accidents  incapacitated 
the  employee  for  only  one  day.  The  statistics  for  191 3 
are  presented  below : 

DURATION   OF   DISABILITY   CAUSED  BY  NON-FATAL  INJURIES 
ACCORDING  TO  EXPERIENCE  UNDER  THE  WORKMEN'S  COM- 
PENSATION LAW  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  FOR  YEAR 
ENDING  JUNE  30,  1913  ^a 

Persons  injured 

Duration  of  Disability  , >^ ^ 

Number  Per  cent. 

2  weeks  and  under  a      68,586  76.5 

2  to  4  weeks      10,568  11.8 

4  to  8  weeks      6,638  7.4 

8  to  13  weeks 2,355  2.6 

13  to  26  weeks 1,275  1.4 

Over  26  weeks 272  .3 

Total 89,694  100.0 

a  Of  the  accirlcnts  causing  disability  of  less  than  two  weeks,  36,901,  or  41  per 
cent,  of  the  non-fatal  accidents,  caused  a  disability  duration  of  one  day  or  less. 

Translated  into  terms  of  average  days  lost  per  injured 
person,  the  above  figures  indicate  that  the  average  em- 
ployee who  was  incapacitated  by  industrial  accident  lost 
12.9  days.  Stated  in  another  form,  the  statistics  showed 
that  3,855  wage-workers  in  Massachusetts  were  con- 
s'First  annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts  Industrial  Accident  Board.  The 
data  from  this  source  arc  summarized  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Bulletin  157, 
suf-  <•'»'•.  PP-  48-57. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  211 

stantly  incapacitated  on  account  of  industrial  accidents 
during  the  year  ending  June  30,  19 13.  The  Massachu- 
setts Accident  Board  estimated  that  the  wage  loss  oc- 
casioned by  industrial  accidents  in  1913  was  $2,965,225, 
or  about  $10,000  for  each  working  day.  When  the  fact 
that  the  predominating  industries  in  Massachusetts  are 
textiles  and  boots  and  shoes,  both  of  which  are  com- 
paratively free  from  industrial  accidents,  is  taken  into 
consideration,  it  is  quite  apparent  that  these  statistics  are 
hardly  typical  for  the  principal  industrial  States. 

The  Massachusetts  statistics  are  especially  illuminating, 
however,  because  they  furnish  data  on  the  wages  of  those 
who  were  fatally  injured.  These  wage  statistics  plainly 
showed  that  the  large  majority  of  fatally  injured  workers 
were  persons  earning  wages  barely  sufficient  for  main- 
taining families.  Loss  of  wages  meant  serious  conse- 
quences to  their  dependents  unless  the  latter  were  pro- 
vided with  other  means  of  support.  According  to  the 
statistics  of  classified  weekly  wages  of  the  474  persons 
fatally  injured  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1913,  5.7 
per  cent,  earned  $8  or  less,  60.8  per  cent,  earned  from  $8 
to  $15,  21.5  per  cent,  earned  from  $15  to  $20,  and  only  12 
per  cent,  earned  over  $20.  Similar  data  are  afforded  by 
the  California  Industrial  Accident  Commission  for  fatally 
injured  persons.  Of  678  fatally  injured  persons  during 
the  year  ending  June  30,  191 5,  about  62  per  cent,  were 
receiving  between  $10  and  $19  per  week,  and  over  80 
per  cent,  were  receiving  $30  or  less  a  week.  Nearly  40 
per  cent,  were  married  men.  Of  the  1,292  permanently 
injured  persons  during  this  period,  more  than  55  per  cent. 


212  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

were  receiving  between  $io  and  $19  per  week,  and  about 
50  per  cent,  were  married  men.  The  loss  of  time  oc- 
casioned by  the  60,241  accidents  which  resulted  in  only 
temporary  disability  amounted  to  695,394  days,  or  an 
average  for  all  cases  where  disability  lasted  through  the 
day  of  16.8  days,  representing  a  money  loss  in  wages  of 
about  $2,000,000.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  against 
this  wage  loss  is  set  the  sum  of  only  $605,743  which  em- 
ployers and  insurance  companies  paid  in  compensation, 
or  a  total  of  $1,220,449,  i^  rnedical  benefits  be  included. 

American  statistics  of  accident  mortality  in  industrial 
occupations  are  very  similar,  so  far  as  occupational  differ- 
ences are  concerned,  to  European  statistics  for  similar 
occupations.  There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the 
danger  from  maiming  or  fatal  accidents  is  a  very  real 
condition  of  labor  and  a  very  marked  characteristic  of 
modern  industry.  In  certain  important  occupations  it  is  a 
fact  which  the  wage-earner  and  his  family  must  face, 
with  what  solace  fatalistic  creeds  may  afford  them,  until 
accident  prevention  becomes  thoroughly  effective.  Finan- 
cial compensation  is  a  poor  recompense  for  disabling  in- 
jury or  for  the  family's  loss  of  a  breadwinner;  it  merely 
affords  a  pitiful  relief.  Its  greatest  value  lies  in  the  in- 
centive which  some  employers  apparently  need  to  realize 
the  uneconomical  practise  of  disregarding  the  value  of 
human  efficiency  and  life. 

HAZARDS  FROM    HARMFUL  SUBSTANCES 

Occupational  health  hazards  resulting  from  work  in  the 
so-called  "harmful  substances"  have  been  shown  in  several 


IN   AMERICAN    INDUSTRIES  213 

important  Federal  and  State  investigations,  as  well  as  in 
medical  literature,  to  be  serious  hazards  to  the  workers 
in  those  conditions.  These  substances  have  been  classified 
as  metals,  dusts,  gases,  vapors  and  fumes.  It  is  im- 
portant to  point  out,  however,  that  while  authoritative  in- 
vestigations have  shown  that  nearly  every  line  of  modern 
manufacture  exposes  the  worker  to  the  dangers  of  in- 
dustrial poisoning,  the  number  of  workers  who  suffer 
from  diseases  caused  by  harmful  substances  is  relatively 
small  when  compared  with  workers  who  are  incapacitated 
or  killed  by  industrial  accidents  or  by  insanitary  con- 
ditions in  places  of  work,  by  insanitary  conditions  of 
living,  or  by  earnings  inadequate  to  provide  proper  food 
and  healthful  home  and  community  environment.  It  is 
quite  probable  that,  with  the  means  to  build  up  the 
worker's  resistence  to  disease-causing  conditions  in  the 
substances  in  which  he  works,  the  hazard  arising  from 
such  conditions  would  be  greatly  lessened.  It  is  also  quite 
certain  that  practicable  safeguards  can  be  made  against 
deleterious  results  from  harmful  substances.  The  "oc- 
cupational disease"  hazard  is  so  intricately  involved  in 
other  conditions  that  it  is  difficult  to  ascribe  to  each  set  of 
conditions  its  relative  potency  in  bringing  about  harmful 
effects  upon  the  worker. 

So  much  emphasis  has  been  given  to  industrial  poisons 
in  recent  literature  that  it  is  impracticable  here  to  present 
a  summary  of  what  has  been  described."'^  Phosphorus, 
lead,  mercury,  analin,  and  arsenic  poisonings  are  among 
the  more  familiar  examples.     The  New  York  Depart- 

"  See  Chapter  VIII.,  The  Wage-Earner's  Health. 


214  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ment  of  Labor,  during  the  two  years  ending  August,  191 3, 
had  284  cases  of  industrial  diseases  reported  to  it.  Of 
this  number  239,  or  nearly  85  per  cent.,  were  caused  by 
lead  poisoning;  8,  or  about  3  per  cent.,  were  caused  by 
brass,  mercury,  phosphorus,  and  wood  alcohol  poisoning ; 
5,  or  about  2  per  cent.,  contracted  anthrax:  30,  or  about 
10  per  cent.,  were  subjected  to  caisson  disease  when  work- 
ing in  shafts  and  tunnels.  Of  the  lead  poisonings  about 
one- fourth  occurred  among  workers  in  the  manufacture 
of  electric  batteries  and  in  the  painting  of  vehicles,  and 
nearly  a  half  in  house  painting.  This  brief  reference 
from  two  years'  experience  in  a  single  State  affords  an 
idea  of  the  character  and  of  the  extent  of  industrial 
poisoning.  The  recent  investigation  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Mines,  undertaken  in  cooperation  with  the 
Federal  Public  Health  Service,  of  silicosis,  or  "miner's 
consumption,"  in  metal  mines  in  the  Joplin,  Missouri,  dis- 
trict, furnishes  an  illuminating  example  of  the  hazards 
from  rock  dust  as  well  as  other  harmful  conditions  of 
work  in  that  industry.  "Miner's  consumption,"  declared 
the  report  of  this  investigation,  is  a  matter  "of  deep  pub- 
lic concern"  for  the  reason  "that  the  inhalation  of  sharp 
particles  of  dust  injures  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
lungs  and  in  this  way  lessens  the  resistence  of  the  lungs 
to  pathologic  germs,  especially  the  bacilli  of  pulmonary 
tuberculosis."  The  report  concluded  that  the  death  rate 
from  pulmonary  diseases  is  unusually  high  among  the 
Joplin  miners;  that  the  prime  factor  is  the  rock  dust  in 
the  mines,  the  poor  housing,  exposure,  alcoholism,  the 
use  of  common  drinking  receptacles  and  overwork  are 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  215 

contributory  causes;  that  the  rock  dust  is  harmful  be- 
cause the  miner  is  exposed  to  it  practically  during  his 
entire  shift,  and  because  of  the  peculiarly  sharp  character 
of  the  particles;  that  the  rock  dust  can  be  abated  almost 
completely  by  observing  certain  precautions ;  and  that 
"there  are  certain  abuses  connected  with  the  piece  system 
of  work  that  demand  attention  and  correction  as  far  as 
practicable." 

The  tuberculosis  rate  has  been  found  to  be  considerably 
higher  than  the  average  for  all  occupations  among  glass 
and  stone  workers  and  among  grinders  and  polishers  in 
metal  working  plants,  and  suggests  the  harmful  effect 
of  working  in  certain  substances."^  In  brass  foundries, 
for  example,  the  dense  clouds  of  deflagrated  zinc  arising 
from  the  molten  metal  have  injurious  effects.  In  glass 
factories,  it  has  been  observed  that  the  glass  dust  is  a 
serious  danger  to  health.  For  purpose  of  illustration, 
a  description  afforded  by  the  Federal  Woman  and  Child 
Wage-Earners'  report,  as  condensed  in  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  recent  summary,  may  be  referred  to.''' 
In  the  glass  bottle  factories  investigated,  the  glass  dust 
comes  partly  from  the  glass  on  the  floor,  says  the  sum- 
mary, but  far  more  from  what  is  known  as  "blow-over," 
the  name  given  to  those  gossamer-like  flakes  of  filmy 
glass  that  are  usually  found  floating  in  the  air  of  a  bottle 
house.  When  a  bottle  has  been  blown  into  form  in  a 
mold  it  is  necessary  to  detach  the  blowpipe  without  in- 
juring the  neck  of  the  bottle.     To  do  this  the  glass  be- 

-'  See  statistics  of  mortality  according  to  occupation  in  Chapter  VIII.,  The 
Wage-Earner's  Health. 

»•  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  No.  175,  p.  121. 


2i6  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

tween  the  top  of  the  mold  and  the  butt  of  the  blowpipe  is 
blown  into  a  thin  bubble  which  can  be  easily  broken.  This 
can  be  done  so  as  to  cause  practically  no  blow-over,  but 
it  is  "quicker  and  easier  to  blow  hard  enough  to  inflate 
and  burst  this  portion  of  the  glass  by  internal  air  pressure. 
When  this  is  done  the  bubble  explodes  with  a  popping 
noise  and  its  walls  fly  into  the  air,  often  into  the  mold- 
boy's  face,  and  the  light  particles  of  glass  float  in  the 
air  currents  of  the  room."' 

The  degree  to  which  blow-over  is  present  dififers 
greatly  with  the  speed  and  carefulness  of  the  blowers. 
It  is  by  no  means  an  inevitable  feature ;  in  some  factories 
such  precautions  were  taken  that  it  was  a  negligible  evil, 
while  in  others  it  constituted  a  serious  menace.  The  re- 
port says : 

"In  some  factories  at  times  the  air  is  so  full  of  this  float- 
ing glass  that  the  hair  is  whitened  by  merely  passing 
through  the  room.  It  sticks  to  the  perspiration  on  the 
faces  and  arms  of  the  boys  and  men,  and  becomes  a 
source  of  considerable  irritation.  Getting  into  the  eyes, 
it  becomes  especially  troublesome."  ^^ 

This  dust  is  said  to  be  the  cause  of  much  temporary 
skin  and  eye  irritation ;  just  iiow  serious  these  effects  are 
has  not  been  determined.  It  is  a  truism,  however,  that  the 
inhalation  of  irritating  dust  predisposes  to  diseases  of  the 
respiratory  passages,  and  it  is  known  that  its  presence  in 
considerable  quantities  in  workrooms  is  always  accom- 
panied by  a  high  death  rate,  especially  from  consump- 
tion."' 

•"  Woman  and  Child  Wagc-Earncis'  Report,  Vol.  III.,  Glass  Industry,  p.  66. 
'^^  Ibid.,  p.   135. 


'IN  AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  217 

INSANITARY   CONDITIONS  IN   PLACES  OF  WORK 

The  wage-worker  is  frequently  subjected  to  hazards 
other  than  those  of  industrial  accidents  or  of  working  in 
"harmful  substances";  unhealthful  conditions,  commonly 
described  as  insanitary ,^^  also  constitute  a  menace  to  his 
health.  While  there  has  been  undoubted  improvement  in 
the  sanitary  conditions  in  factories  and  other  places  of 
work  in  recent  years,  the  average  American  industrial 
establishment  is  by  no  means  free  from  conditions  which, 
according  to  present  standards  and  knowledge,  are  dis- 
tinctly insanitary.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  nearly  every 
plant  where  such  conditions  exist,  comparatively  little 
outlay  of  money  and  a  little  intelligent  effort  could  greatly 
improve  and,  in  many  cases,  remove  them.  The  results 
in  increased  efficiency  have  often  been  seen  where  such 
outlay  and  effort  have  been  made. 

The  regular  reports  of  factory  inspectors  in  many 
States  and  of  special  investigations  and  surveys  of  san- 
itary conditions  in  manufacturing  establishments  furnish 
a  large  amount  of  data  on  this  condition  of  labor.  It  is 
obviously  impossible  to  construct  any  general  statement 
of  what  the  sanitary  status  of  American  industrial  estab- 
lishments is,  or  to  summarize  the  literature  on  the  sub- 
ject in  a  concise  manner.  A  brief  mention  of  some  of  the 
more  important  insanitary  conditions,  with  a  few  illustra- 
tions, must  suffice  to  suggest  what  these  conditions  are 
and  how  far  they  are  prevalent. 

Among  the  principal  insanitary  conditions  which  have 

S2  Harmful  substances,  as  well  as  long  hours,  properly  come  within  the  defini- 
tion of  "insanitary"  conditions,  but  for  purposes  of  clearness  they  have  been 
discust  under  separate  headings  in  this  chapter. 


2i8  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

been  noted  are  those  due  to  bad  ventilation,  such  as  ex- 
cessive heat  or  cold ;  overcrowding ;  excessive  or  de- 
fective light  or  lack  of  light,  and  excessive  noise  and 
rhythm  from  machinery,  etc.,  which  cause  strains  of 
nerves  and  special  senses;  conditions  which  cause  im- 
proper postures  of  the  worker;  uncleanly  conditions, 
which  are  not  only  distasteful  to  the  worker,  but 
which  are  also  favorable  to  the  spread  of  infectious 
diseases. 

Recent  reports  indicate  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  industrial  establishments  in  this  country  are  not  free 
from  unhygienic  conditions.  The  Federal  report  on 
woman  and  child  wage-earners  stated  that  in  cotton 
mills,^^  for  example,  the  light  in  the  weaving-rooms  only 
was  good.  Ventilation  was  apt  to  be  poor.  The  tempera- 
ture of  the  mills  was  often  found  to  be  high,  and  in  certain 
rooms  the  humidity  was  excessive.  In  the  Southern  mills 
over  80  per  cent,  of  the  toilets  were  unclean,  and  in 
over  50  per  cent.,  in  both  sections,  there  was  no  reason- 
able privacy  of  approach.  Wash  rooms  and  dress- 
ing rooms  were  rare.  This  survey  was  made  in  1907- 
1908,  and  it  is  proper  to  state  that  in  many  mills  marked 
improvements  have  been  made.  The  more  recent  report, 
however,  of  the  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Com- 
mission of  its  extensive  examination  of  establishments  in 
the  State  of  New  York  found  "deplorable"  conditions  in 
a  large  number  of  factories  and  that  satisfactory  con- 
ditions were  found  in  a  relatively  small  proportion  of  the 

*"  See  Summary  of  the  Report  on  Condition  of  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners  in  the  United  States  (Bulletin  175  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  I,:il)or  Statis- 
tics, p.  66),  based  on  Vol.  I.  of  the  report. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  219 

establishments.^*  "In  many  of  the  industrial  estab- 
lishments in  the  state,"  the  report  says,  "the  conditions 
of  work  have  been  found  to  be  excellent,  the  management 
giving  proper  regard  to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the 
employees,  and  the  organization  being  model  in  all  re- 
spects. Everything  in  reason  has  been  done  for  the 
workers,  and  a  high  standard  of  efficiency  has  been 
maintained."    ... 

''Unfortunately,  such  model  establishments  and  such 
enlightened  employers  are  in  the  minority,  as  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  employers  have  not  yet  awakened  to 
the  importance  of  improving  conditions  of  labor.  Inves- 
tigations in  a  great  number  of  factories  throughout  the 
State  have  revealed  much  that  is  deplorable.  In  the  pro- 
duction of  commodities,  great  economy  must  needs  be 
practised  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  there  is  a  tendency 
on  the  part  of  many  employers  to  economize  not  only  in 
matters  of  legitimate  expense,  but  also  in  space,  light,  air 
and  certain  other  safeguards  to  the  health  and  lives  of 
the  workers.  Such  false  economy  inevitably  injures  the 
employer  and  imperils  the  health  and  lives  of  his  em- 
ployees. Workers  exercise  but  little  control,  either  indi- 
vidually or  collectively,  over  conditions  of  labor  in  fac- 
tories. The  employer,  alone,  arranges  all  working  con- 
ditions and  regulates  them  according  to  his  will." 

^New  York  Factory  Investigating  Commission;  Second  Report,  1913,  Vol. 
II.,  Report  of  Dr.  George  M.  Price,  Director  of  Investigation,  p.  416.  See 
Chapter  VIII..  The  Wage-Earner's  Health. 


220  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

PROFIT-SHARING  AND  BONUS  PLANS 

One  of  the  oldest  methods  by  which  employers  have 
endeavored  to  secure  the  interest  of  their  employees  in 
their  establishments  has  been  profit-sharing.  As  there  is 
confusion  as  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the  term,  it  may  be 
well  to  define  it.  The  International  Cooperative  Con- 
gress, held  in  Paris,  France,  1889,  defined  profit-sharing 
as  "an  agreement  freely  entered  into,  by  which  the  em- 
ployees receive  a  share,  fixt  in  advance,  of  the  profit." 
This  is  a  very  close  definition,  and  it  is  probable  that  there 
are  very  few  systems  in  this  country  which  would  wholly 
comply  with  the  definition.  The  essential  feature,  how- 
ever, of  any  profit-sharing  scheme  is  that  the  amount  to 
be  distributed  shall  depend  upon  the  net  profits  of  the 
enterprise  or  upon  the  amount  of  dividends  paid  to  stock- 
holders, and  that  the  proportion  of  profit  to  be  distributed 
shall  be  definitely  determined  in  advance. 

The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  however,  in  a 
recent  study  ^^  limits  the  principle  of  true  profit-sharing  to 
those  firms  in  which  the  benefits  of  the  plan  are  extended 
to  at  least  one-third  of  the  total  employed,  including  em- 
ployees in  occupations  other  than  executive  in  character, 
and  under  which  the  methods  of  determining  individual 
shares  are  not  known  in  a  general  way  to  the  participating 
employee.  It  then  classifies  as  limited  profit-sharing  those 
plans  in  which  the  benefits  are  limited  to  less  than  one- 
third  of  the  total  employed,  excluding  employees  other 
than  executive  or  clerical. 

3^  Bulletin  No.  2C8,  "I'rofit-Sharing  in  the  United  States,"  by  Boris  Emmet. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  221 

As  defined  above,  in  the  narrow  sense  profit-sharing 
was  found  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  in  the  in- 
vestigation referred  to  in  practise  in  the  United  States  by 
approximately  sixty  firms,  as  follows : 

The  number  of  profit-sharing  plans  in  which  less  than 
one-third  of  the  employees  of  any  firm  are  included  prob- 
ably exceeds  the  number  of  establishments  classified  as 
having  profit-sharing  plans  in  the  true  sense  of  that  term; 
the  number  of  bonus  plans  is  probably  even  larger  than 
the  number  of  profit-sharing  plans. 

It  is  probably  fairly  well  accepted  tho  not  established 
definitely  by  court  decisions  ^^  that  employees  under  any 
one  of  these  plans  have  no  legal  claims  upon  the  profits 
to  be  made  available  for  distribution.  The  bulletin  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  in  question  refers  to  several 
cases  in  the  justice  courts  of  the  State  of  Michigan  in 
which  the  defendants  contend  that  profit-sharing  moneys 
are  mere  gratuities  from  the  employer. 

The  amount  of  the  divisible  profits  is  distributed  either 
as  a  specific  proportion  of  the  net  profits,  or  of  the  divi- 
dends to  stockholders,  or  as  a  rate  of  dividend  on  the 
earnings  of  the  employees.  This  rate  is  usually  less  than 
the  rate  of  dividend  paid  on  capital  to  the  stockholders. 
Eligibility  for  participation  by  the  employees  is  generally 
dependent  upon  length  of  service  with  the  enterprise. 
This  minimum  of  continuous  service  varies  from  three 
months  to  three  years ;  but  the  minimum  required  in  more 

*'  The  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  which  is  the  highest  court  in  that  State, 
has  denied  the  right  of  an  employee  to  the  amount  of  an  accrued  pension  upon 
dismissal  before  reaching  the  specified  age  and  service  limit.  (McNevin  v.  Sol- 
vay   Process  Company,   32  App.   Div.,   610;   affirming   166  N.   Y.,  530). 


222  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

than  one-half  of  the  plans  investigated  by  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  was  one  year  or  less. 

In  all  of  the  plans  the  employer  retains  absolute  right 
of  hiring  and  discharging  employees,  and  discharge  and 
leaving  employment  act  automatically  to  forfeit  the  share 
of  profits  of  the  employee.  The  employer  retains  the 
amount  forfeited.    The  profits  are  generally  paid  in  cash. 

According  to  the  investigation  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  already  referred  to,  the  following  facts  were 
developed  as  to  the  profit-sharing  plans  investigated :  Of 
the  56  plans,  11  were  established  in  1915 ;  7  in  1914;  4  in 
each  of  the  years  1901,  1906,  1909,  191 1,  1912,  and  1913; 
3  in  1910;  2  in  each  of  the  years  1886  and  1899;  and  i 
in  each  of  the  years  1887,  1889,  1900,  1902,  1904  and 
1907.  Over  six-tenths  were  located  in  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  and  Ohio,  13  being  located  in  Massachusetts. 
Forty-five  per  cent.,  or  25,  were  in  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments; 21  per  cent.,  or  12,  in  mercantile  institutions; 
14  per  cent.,  or  8,  in  banking  houses,  and  7  per  cent.,  or 
4,  in  public  utilities.  As  to  size,  of  the  38  establishments 
reporting  the  number  of  employees,  37  per  cent.,  or  the 
largest  proportion,  were  classed  as  establishments  having 
100  and  under  300  employees;  and  34  per  cent,  employed 
under  100  employees. 

Under  almost  one-third  of  the  plans  the  profit-sharing 
dividend  of  the  regular  earnings  of  the  participating  em- 
ployees was  less  than  6  per  cent. ;  under  slightly  over  one- 
third  of  the  plans  the  dividend  varied  from  6  to  under  10 
per  cent. ;  under  the  remaining  third  of  the  establishments 
the  dividend  amounted  to  10  per  cent,  and  over.     As  all 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  223 

employees  do  not  participate  in  the  plans,  the  cost  to  the 
employer  in  proportion  to  the  earnings  would  be  generally 
less  than  indicated  by  the  rate  of  dividend  on  earnings 
of  participating  employees. 

When  applied  in  an  establishment  the  plans  appeared 
to  reach  a  comparatively  large  proportion  of  employees 
other  than  the  higher  executive,  clerical  and  sales  oc- 
cupations, 83  per  cent,  of  the  employees  being  in  occupa- 
tions other  than  these  latter. 

Limited  profit-sharing  plans,  that  is,  plans  under  which 
less  than  one-third  of  the  employees  of  an  establishment 
are  eligible  for  benefits,  were  studied  by  the  Bureau. 
Those  benefited  are  usually  the  higher  paid  employees  in 
charge  of  the  operation  of  the  business,  the  executive,  ad- 
ministrative, and  supervisory  employees.  The  determina- 
tion of  the  profit-sharing  fund,  conditions  of  eligibility, 
basis  for  computing  individual  shares,  conditions  of  for- 
feiture, etc.,  are  quite  similar  to  those  in  profit-sharing 
plans  more  strictly  defined. 

None  of  these  plans,  the  Bureau  found,  go  back  prior 
to  1900;  the  establishments  were  found  most  generally 
located  in  the  North  Atlantic  States ;  they  were  most  com- 
mon in  manufacturing  enterprises,  and  more  generally 
among  the  smaller  establishments  than  the  larger  ones. 
Under  these  limited  plans  the  benefits  accruing  to  the  par- 
ticipants are  usually  larger  than  under  the  true  profit- 
sharing  plan,  the  relative  proportion  of  the  profits  avail- 
able for  distribution  being  considerably  larger  and  the 
number  of  employees  benefited  considerably  smaller  than 
under  the  other  plans  described.     It  appears  that  74  per 


224  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

cent,  of  the  employees  participating  in  the  limited  profit- 
sharing  plans  belong  to  the  executive,  clerical  and  sales 
occupations,  only  26  per  cent,  were  in  that  group  which 
includes  the  mechanical  occupations. 

Closely  related  to  profit-sharing  are  bonus  plans  under 
which  the  divisible  fund  depends  upon  any  or  one  of 
several  factors :  ( i )  Price  for  which  the  commodity  man- 
ufactured is  disposed  of  (sliding  scale  wage)  ;  (2)  gross 
receipts  or  gross  profits;  (3)  probable  profits  of  the 
bonus;  (4)  earnings  and  length  of  service;  (5)  length 
of  service  and  thrift  as  shown  by  ownership  of  stock  in 
the  company  or  maintenance  of  a  savings  account  by  the 
participant;  (6)  savings  of  prospective  participants  as 
shown  by  a  stock  subscription  or  ownership  or  a  savings 
account;  and  (7)  amount  of  savings  collectively  affected 
for  the  enterprise. 

The  benefits  accruing  from  such  bonuses  are  in  the 
nature  of  periodic  wage  increases.  The  benefit  is  usually 
in  the  form  of  a  return  to  the  employee  of  a  percentage  on 
earnings,  the  percentage  varying  with  the  length  of 
service.  The  bonus  is  in  the  nature  of  a  gift,  and  bears  no 
relation  to  the  profits  realized  but  varies  with  tlie  prosper- 
ity of  the  business  as  a  rule.  In  the  Ford  automobile 
plants  the  bonus  is  distributed  in  the  form  of  a  guaran- 
teed minimum  wage  per  day,  rated  according  to  skill,  the 
gross  amount  dependent  upon  the  profits  estimated  to  ac- 
crue within  the  year,  one-half  of  such  profits  being  dis- 
tributed in  the  form  of  the  minimum  wage.  Frequently 
the  condition  for  a  certain  length  of  service  is  coupled 
with  a  compulsion  to  subscribe  for  a  si)ecified  amount  of 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  225 

stock  of  the  company;  in  other  plans  it  depends  upon  the 
skill  of  the  employee  as  shown  by  his  rate  of  wages,  while 
in  others  the  bonus  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  work 
performed  by  the  employee  and  the  merit  of  the  service 
rendered  in  the  estimation  of  the  employer.  In  stock  sub- 
scription plans  the  additional  remuneration  depends  upon 
the  amount  of  subscriptions  per  stock,  and  in  the  so-called 
cash  bonus  plan  based  upon  length  of  service,  it  depends 
upon  the  earnings  of  the  employee  in  relation  to  his  length 
of  service.  There  are  also  plans  in  which  the  dividend 
on  earnings  of  the  employees  is  dependent  upon  the  sav- 
ings collectively  effected  in  a  department  over  and  above 
a  standard  fixt  in  advance. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  a  special  study  for  the  Na- 
tional Civic  Federation,  it  was  stated  that  of  the  200 
plans  that  were  analyzed  a  great  many  "have  been  aban- 
doned as  acknowledged  failures."  The  relatively  large 
proportion  of  "dubious"  results,  however,  ought  not  to 
lead  one  to  the  conclusion  that  profit-sharing  is  "worth- 
less," because  other  plans  of  the  same  kind,  from  the 
standpoint  of  special  local  conditions,  or  by  contrast  with 
some  previous  order  of  things,  "no  doubt  show  a  net 
improvement  in  the  welfare  of  the  employees  affected 
and  the  morale  of  the  plants."  "^ 

The  views  of  a  considerable  number  of  labor  leaders 
on  the  question  of  profit-sharing  were  sought  and  ob- 
tained. All  of  these  informants,  without  exception,  voiced 
their  emphatic  opposition  to  the  principle  as  well  as  to  its 

5^  Profit-Sharing  by  American  Employers,  New  York  City  (1916),  p.  6.  Re- 
viewed in  Monthly  Review  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Washington, 
1916,  Vol.  II.,  No.  6  (June),  46-48. 


226  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

application,  on  the  grounds  that  such  plans  invariably  re- 
sult in  discouraging  collective  bargaining,  have  a  tendency 
to  hinder  the  development  of  labor  organizations,  and  in 
their  actual  application  are  confined  to  employees  of 
higher  grades,  excluding  from  their  benefits  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  workers.  The  latter  assertion,  the  report  states, 
"is  borne  out  by  the  statistics  of  many  of  these  experi- 
ments." ^^ 

With  reference  to  the  attitude  of  employers  the  report 
states  that  a  large  number  of  the  companies  whose  plans 
were  analyzed  in  the  body  of  the  report,  stated  that  they 
"considered  profit-sharing  a  success"  and  that  others 
"presumably  hold  the  same  view  from  the  fact  that  they 
continue  the  experiments  from  year  to  year."  Employers 
having  profit-sharing  plans  in  operation  think  that  the 
application  of  the  principle  "promotes  more  continuous 
service,  reduces  the  cost  of  production,  secures  more  regu- 
lar attendance  at  work,  builds  up  confidence,  and  creates 
a  spirit  of  cooperation."  ^® 

But  while  most  of  the  objections  to  profit-sharing  come 
from  the  side  of  organized  labor,  some  employers  who 
have  had  experience  on  the  subject  "are  by  no  means  a 
unit  as  to  its  practical  value."  Some  of  these  employers 
express  disappointment  that  their  efforts  were  not  appre- 
ciated by  their  employees,  that  the  latter  "seemed  to  pre- 
fer their  total  earnings  in  fixt  wages,  that  they  were  sus- 
picious of  their  employers'  motives,  that  they  insisted 
upon  joining  unions  and  presenting  demands  in  spite  of 

»*Idcm.,  pp.  12.  13. 
«»  Idem.,  p.  10. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  227 

the  companies'  effort  to  give  them  a  share  in  the  extra 
gains  of  the  business."  *" 

Employers'  Welfare  Work 
The  institution  of  welfare  work,  special  methods  for 
the  payment  of  wages,  such  as  bonus  and  premium  sys- 
tems, and  sharing  of  profits  with  the  employees  by  the 
enterprise,  is  a  recognition  by  employers  that  careful  and 
tactful  consideration  must  be  given  to  the  wage-earner 
as  a  human  being  to  secure  his  loyalty  and  attachment  to 
the  work  of  his  employer.  The  immediate  ends  sought 
by  employers  are  various ;  among  them  may  be  men- 
tioned the  desire  to  secure  greater  steadiness  of  employ- 
ment by  preventing  the  waste  of  frequent  hiring  and  dis- 
charging of  men;  freedom  from  strikes  and  lockouts ;  and 
discouragement  of  organization  among  employees,  with 
the  consequent  interference  of  the  employees  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  enterprise.  The  general  result  achieved 
is  thought  to  be  greater  production  at  less  cost.  Un- 
doubtedly, also,  the  humanitarian  instinct  has  been  very 
prominent  as  a  motive  in  the  inauguration  of  various 
kinds  of  welfare  schemes. 

It  may  be  said  that  organized  labor  without  exception 
is  opposed  to  welfare  work  of  every  kind.  It  is  charged 
that  it  leads  to  paternalism  and  autocracy  on  the  part  of 
the  employers;  that  the  work  as  a  whole  is  done  at  the 
expense  of  wages,  and  that  it  results  in  suppressing 
initiative  on  the  part  of  the  employee.  Welfare  work  is 
declared  to  be  one  of  the  instrumentalities  by  which  the 

*°Idem.,  p.  11. 


228  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

progress  of  industrial  democracy  is  stayed.  Welfare 
work  may  be  defined  as  provision  by  the  employer  for  the 
comfort  of  the  employee,  mental  and  physical,  recreation 
in  the  interest  of  his  health  and  hygiene  and  general  well- 
being  over  and  above  what  is  legally  demanded.  It  con- 
sists in  improvement  of  working  conditions  of  the  em- 
ployee above  the  standard  required  by  law.  Most  of  the 
welfare  work  is  conducted  by  employers  with  the  larger 
labor  forces  and  by  those  generally  engaged  in  enter- 
prises of  a  more  permanent  character.  The  kind  of  wel- 
fare work  carried  on  naturally  differs  from  the  character 
of  the  employing  force  in  any  instance;  it  is  different  for 
employees  in  department  stores  and  for  miners  or  rail- 
road hands. 

Welfare  work  takes  on  a  multiplicity  of  forms.  Among 
the  various  kinds  may  be  mentioned  rest  and  recreation 
rooms,  and  cloak  and  locker  rooms — most  common  in 
department  stores  and  large  office  establishments ;  also 
lunch  rooms  and  restaurants ;  club  rooms  or  houses ; 
emergency  or  first-aid  rooms,  bath  and  wash  rooms  and 
hospital  arrangements — institutions  most  common  at 
mines  and  for  the  rougher  occupations  in  general;  pro- 
vision of  libraries  or  reading-rooms;  gymnasium,  and 
recreation  grounds ;  social  gatherings,  outings,  music  and 
lectures ;  work  among  families  of  employees,  such  as 
maintaining  kindergartens,  playgrounds,  clinic  or  visiting 
nurse  service ;  amusements,  etc. ;  institution  of  classes  in 
trade  or  other  education,  particularly  the  organization  of 
classes  for  the  instruction  of  foreigners  in  English;  in- 
stitution of  benefit  associations  for  the  relief  of  persons 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  229 

injured  by  accident  or  incapacitated  by  sickness;  the 
establishment  of  pension  funds  for  the  disabled  and 
superannuated;  organization  of  group  insurance,  en- 
couragement of  thrift,  and  provision  of  relief  from 
monotonous  and  fatiguing  occupations.  Of  late  there  has 
developed  a  system  of  physical  examination  of  employees 
to  ascertain  their  fitness  for  any  occupation  for  which 
they  apply ;  this  physical  examination  is  usually  conducted 
from  time  to  time  in  order  to  maintain  the  health  of  the 
employee.  There  has  been  considerable  development  in 
granting  of  vacation  and  sick  leave;  particularly  is  this 
true  in  office  and  clerical  work. 

The  administration  of  the  welfare  work  is  probably 
most  generally  in  the  hands  of  the  employers,  altho  many 
of  them  carry  the  work  on  through  a  special  welfare  sec- 
retary, a  rather  recent  institution. 

In  many  instances  a  democratic  form  of  organization 
is  maintained  by  representation  of  the  employees  on 
managing  committees.  This  is  particularly  so  in  the  case 
of  the  organization  of  safety  work  in  mines  and  in  the 
iron  and  steel  industry.  Frequently  outside  agencies  co- 
operate in  the  organization  of  the  work.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
maintains  an  extended  cooperation  with  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  the  usual  Y.  M.  C.  A.  equipment — 
gymnasium,  reading-rooms,  etc. — being  maintained  at 
some  of  the  principal  terminals  of  that  road.  Frequently 
the  work  is  carried  on  in  cooperation  with  social  settle- 
ment organizations,  boards  of  education,  and  charitable 
organizations. 

A  mere  list  of  all  employers  in  the  United  States  who 


230  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

are  known  to  conduct  welfare  work  of  varying  amount 
would  probably  fill  a  small  volume  of  fifty  or  more  pages. 
Bulletin  123  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  (Em- 
ployers' Welfare  Work,  Washington,  191 3)  describes 
the  welfare  work  of  fifty-one  large  employers  of  labor; 
but  it  would  be  quite  safe  to  say  a  list  of  from  1,500  to 
2,000  concerns  could  be  compiled  for  the  United  States 
of  employers  engaged  in  welfare  work.  Mr.  Tollman  in 
his  work  on  social  engineering  (1909)  describes  in  some 
detail  the  welfare  work  of  establishments  employing  over 
a  million  and  a  half  workers.  One  of  the  best  illustra- 
tions of  welfare  w'ork  as  conducted  by  some  of  the  larger 
employers  of  labor  is  afforded  by  the  system  which  has 
been  put  into  operation  by  the  United  States  Steel  Cor- 
poration. 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  maintains  at  New 
York  a  separate  Bureau  of  Safety,  Relief,  Sanitation 
and  Welfare,  organized  in  1910.^^  It  is  in  charge  of  a 
manager  whose  entire  time  is  spent  on  this  work.  The 
Bureau  acts  as  a  central  clearing-house  of  information 
for  the  subsidiary  companies  of  the  corporation  and  as 
the  administrative  body  for  the  Committee  of  Safety  and 
of  the  Committee  on  Sanitation,  the  duty  of  which  is  the 
organization  of  local  committees  of  safety  at  the  various 
plants  of  the  corporation.  On  these  committees  em- 
ployees are  represented.  Their  work  is  educational — the 
study  of  efficient  safeguards,  methods  of  installation,  etc. 
At  its  New  York  office  the  Bureau  maintains  a  museum 


"  U.  R.  Steel  Corporation,  Bureau  of  .Safety,  Relief,  Sanitation  and  Welfare. 
Bulletin  No.  4,  November,  1913,  New  York  City. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  231 

of  safety  and  files  pictures  of  the  welfare  work  of  the 
corporation. 

The  problem  first  given  attention  by  the  sanitation 
committee  was  the  purification  of  the  drinking  water 
supply  at  the  different  subsidiary  companies.  An  analysis 
was  made  of  the  water  and  impure  sources  were  aban- 
doned and  new  supplies  obtained.  These  analyses  are 
now  made  twice  a  year  and  oftener  as  occasion  may  re- 
quire. The  common  drinking-cup  is  being  replaced  with 
sanitary  drinking  fountains,  482  such  fountains  having 
been  installed  in  19 12.  The  common  or  roller  towel  has 
gradually  been  abandoned.  Standard  specifications  are 
prepared  and  enforced  for  various  types  of  sanitary 
equipment.  Garbage  and  refuse  disposal  is  being  sys- 
tematized at  the  various  mining  towns  of  the  H.  C.  Frick 
Coke  Company  and  the  National  Mining  Company,  sub- 
sidiaries of  the  corporation  in  the  bituminous  coal  region. 
Also,  at  the  mining  towns  bath  and  change  houses  are 
being  installed,  usually  located  a  short  distance  from  the 
mouth  of  the  shaft,  and  provided  with  showers,  lockers, 
etc. 

By  some  of  the  companies  recreation  and  club  houses 
have  been  established.  The  baseball  ground  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  the  potent  means  of  Americanizing  the 
foreign  miner.  It  has  been  a  means  of  social  contact  be- 
tween the  scattered  mining  towns  of  the  bituminous  coal 
and  coke  region  of  western  Pennsylvania.  Also  instru- 
mental in  the  work  of  Americanization  has  been  the  play- 
ground. 

A  number  of  subsidiary  companies  are  providing  res- 


232  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

taurants  at  the  works  for  the  benefit  of  their  employees. 
The  mill  restaurant  of  the  American  Sheet  and  Tin  Plate 
Company,  at  Gary,  Indiana,  cost  $7,300.  The  restaurant 
is  not  leased,  and  no  rental  is  charged.  Permission  to 
continue  business  is  dependent  upon  proper  conduct  of 
the  restaurant,  the  serving  of  wholesome  food,  and  the 
keeping  of  the  premises  in  a  sanitary  condition.  The  price 
of  a  regular  noonday  meal  is  twenty- five  cents. 

The  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company  offer  annually  to  its 
employees  prizes  for  the  best  vegetable  and  flower  garden. 
In  1913  the  company  awarded  113  first  prizes  throughout 
its  different  mining  towns,  113  second  prizes,  and  79  third 
prizes.  The  value  of  each  vegetable  garden  was  esti- 
mated at  $27.50.  The  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad 
Company,  another  subsidiary  of  the  steel  corporation,  re- 
ports that  each  season  more  gardens  are  being  planted 
by  its  employees.  In  19 13  over  50  per  cent,  more  were 
planted  than  in  19 12. 

Another  feature  of  the  welfare  work  of  the  steel  cor- 
poration is  the  institution  of  the  visiting  nurse  service. 
District  or  visiting  nurses  are  employed  by  the  mining 
companies,  usually  under  the  direction  of  a  local  com- 
pany physician  or  plant  manager,  altho  in  some  cases  they 
are  under  the  city  visiting  nurse  association.  Their  duties 
are  to  visit  homes  of  employees  in  times  of  sickness  and 
to  instruct  in  the  care  and  feeding  of  infants.  They  ex- 
plain the  proper  preparation  of  food,  advise  in  the  matter 
of  economical  purchasing,  and  teach  the  value  and  neces- 
sity of  cleanliness  and  the  benefits  of  fresh  air  and  sun- 
shine. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  233 

Children's  playgrounds  are  being  installed  by  the  cor- 
poration on  unused  land  near  the  plant  or  mine  of  the 
subsidiary  company  and  equipped  and  maintained  at  cor- 
poration expense.  Young  women  in  the  neighborhood 
are  said  to  give  their  services  voluntarily  toward  this 
work.  Playgrounds  are  not  restricted  to  the  use  of  chil- 
dren of  the  employing  company,  but  are  open  to  the  com- 
munity. A  total  of  loi  children's  playgrounds  had  been 
provided  by  the  subsidiary  companies  in  1913;  the  total 
average  daily  attendance  was  reported  as  8,688  during 
the  summer  months. 

An  organized  housing  movement  is  being  conducted  by 
the  corporation  through  its  different  subsidiaries.  Whole 
towns  have  been  laid  out,  such  as  Gary,  Indiana,  and 
Morgan  Park  at  Duluth,  Minnesota,  to  provide  housing 
facilities  for  employees.  In  the  bituminous  coal  region 
the  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company  and  the  National  Mining 
Company  have  extensively  gone  into  the  matter  of  main- 
taining sanitary  conditions  in  their  mining  towns,  keeping 
their  houses  well  painted  and  fences  and  gardens  in  trim. 

Labor  and  Scientific  Management 

Scientific  management  is  that  new  form  of  industrial 
management  to  which  are  being  applied  the  principles,  or 
laws,  which  underlie  efficiency  of  human  effort,  and  which 
affect  the  arrangements  of  material  factors  essential  to 
an  industrial  enterprise.  It  is  still  in  a  stage  of  dis- 
covery and  experimentation.  It  was  developed  by 
a  group  of  engineers,  originating  with  Frederick  W. 
Taylor  of   Philadelphia.     As  early  as    1832,   however. 


234  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Charles  Babbage,  a  mathematician,  published  his 
"Economy  of  Manufacturing"  (London),  setting  forth 
the  controlling  principles  of  manufacturing  as  he  saw 
them.  Henry  R.  Towne  of  Yale  and  Towne  Manufac- 
turing Company,  before  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers,  in  1886,  developed  the  idea  of 
"The  Engineer  as  Economist,"  and  described  the  system 
which  he  termed  "Gain  Sharing,"  an  application  of  profit- 
sharing  to  departments  of  an  industry  instead  of  to  the 
business  as  a  whole.  During  this  period  Taylor,  the 
father  of  the  system,  was  developing  his  method  of  re- 
ducing costs  of  production  along  somewhat  different  lines. 
He  termed  his  system  the  "piece-rate  system."  This  con- 
sists in  a  different  rate  of  pay  for  the  same  piece  of  work, 
the  rate  being  low  for  the  ordinary  rate  of  production  and 
high  for  production  according  to  a  fixt  standard.  This 
standard  is  to  be  ascertained  by  means  of  analysis  of  a 
job  into  its  constituent  parts  through  a  study  of  the  time 
taken  to  perform  it  by  an  average  workman.  All  of  the 
motions  of  the  worker  in  performing  the  task  are  timed; 
the  motions  are  simplified  and  corrected  at  the  same  time 
by  the  engineer,  who  analyzes  and  sets  the  task  to  be  per- 
formed. Time  study  determines  the  order  and  sequence 
for  the  performance  of  a  task,  and  ascertains  the  time  for 
its  proper  execution. 

It  is  time  and  motion  study,  in  fact,  which  is  the  es- 
sential characteristic  of  all  phases  of  scientific  manage- 
ent.  Time  and  motion  study,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Taylor, 
is  an  "accurate  scientific  method  by  which  the  great  mass 
of  laws  governing  the  easiest  and  most  productive  move- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  235 

ments  of  man  are  investigated.  These  laws  constitute  a 
great  code  which,  for  the  first  time  in  industry,  com- 
pletely controls  the  acts  of  the  management  as  well  as 
those  of  the  workman."  ^^  The  different  representatives 
of  the  scientific  management  cult  accept  this  method  of 
ascertaining  the  standard  task  to  be  performed,  altho 
they  differ  somewhat  as  to  the  method  of  fixing  the  rate 
of  payment.  H.  L.  Gantt,  for  instance,  adopts  not  a  piece- 
rate  method  of  payment  as  does  Mr.  Taylor,  but  a  time- 
rate  method.  His  bonus  plan  guarantees  the  worker  a 
standard  day's  wage  and  then  adds  a  premium  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  a  standard  of  quantity  or  quality  fixt 
in  advance  by  a  time  and  motion  study.  Harrington 
Emerson  has  modified  the  Gantt  bonus  plan  by  fixing  a 
certain  percentage  of  accomplishment  of  a  standard  task 
as  the  basis  for  payment  for  the  ordinary  day's  wages. 
The  operator  who  attains  to  67  per  cent,  or  less  gets  the 
standard  day's  wages,  and  for  every  percentage  of  in- 
crease in  efficiency  also  gets  a  bonus  on  a  sliding  scale 
according  to  his  relative  attainment  of  the  full  task,  or 
100  per  cent.  If  the  worker  exceeds  the  full  task  he  gets 
an  additional  bonus  of  i  per  cent,  of  his  wages  for  every 
percentage  in  excess  of  the  standard  job. 

Time  and  motion  study  in  scientific  management,  how- 
ever, goes  beyond  the  mere  study  of  the  movements  of 
workers  engaged  in  a  particular  task,  and  extends  to  the 
placing  of  industrial  establishments  and  their  constituent 
parts  in  such  a  way  as  to  conserve  both  time  and  energy 

*^  Hoxie,  R.  F.,  Scientific  Management  and  Labor,  p.   147. 


236  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

in  routing  of  material  and  transporting  stocks  and  sup- 
plies. 

Scientific  management  began  as  an  attempt  to  secure 
greater  productivity  on  the  part  of  labor;  it  was  an  at- 
tempt to  stimulate  by  the  workman  to  greater  effort.  Mr. 
Taylor's  first  exposition  of  the  subject  was  a  description 
of  methods  and  results  obtained  for  the  Midvale  Steel 
Company,  and  the  paper  setting  it  forth  was  entitled  "A 
piece-rate  system."  For  a  time  it  was  termed  the  task  sys- 
tem. It  was  not  until  later,  in  191 1,  that  it  was  expanded 
under  the  title  "Principles  of  scientific  management,"  and 
an  attempt  made  to  develop  a  theory  which  has  now  be- 
come somewhat  elaborate.  In  its  broader  theoretical  as- 
pects, its  advocates  claim  that  "scientific  management  is  a 
system  devised  by  industrial  engineers  for  the  purpose  of 
subserving  the  common  interests  of  employers,  v/orkmen, 
and  society  at  large,  through  the  elimination  of  avoidable 
wastes,  the  general  improvement  of  the  processes  and 
methods  of  production,  and  the  just  and  scientific  dis- 
tribution of  the  product." 

About  the  system  there  has  been  developed  a  consider- 
able body  of  literature.^^  The  theory  in  practise,  however, 
has  been  set  forth  in  a  comprehensive  manner  in  a  limited 
number  of  sources.  The  hearings  before  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Labor  in  1911,^^  reports  of  the  Chief  of  Ord- 
nance, War  Dcpartment,^^  and  a  report  to  the  Commis- 

"  Scientific  Management:  A  collection  of  the  more  significant  articles  descrip- 
tive of  the  Taylor  system  of  management,  edited  by  Clarence  Hcrtrand  Thomp- 
son. Cambridge,  Harvard  University  I'ress,  1914,  878  pages.  This  collection  of 
original  sources  is  accompanied  by  a  somewhat  extended  classified  bibliography. 

**  Hearings  before  the  special  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
investigate  the  Taylor  and  other  systems  of  management,  Washington,   1912. 

«  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  1911-1916,  Washington,  1911-1916. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  2^7 

sion  on  Industrial  Relations  by  Prof.  Robert  Franklin 
Hoxie/^  are  practically  the  only  comprehensive  statements 
concerning-  its  actual  operation. 

Mr.  Hoxie's  investigation  occupied  a  year;  it  covered 
in  detail  35  establishments  and  was  supplemented  by  in- 
terviews with  scientific  management  leaders,  experts,  em- 
ployers and  laboring  men.  As  this  investigation  and 
analysis  carries  with  it  the  weight  of  official  authority  it 
has  been  summarized  in  some  detail  in  the  pages  fol- 
lowing. 

This  investigation  is  particularly  valuable  in  its  study 
of  the  relations  of  scientific  management  to  labor,  which 
phase  of  it  has  been  a  storm  center  of  the  movement  on 
account  of  the  violent  objections  which  have  arisen  to  it 
from  the  side  of  labor.  This  opposition  has  extended  so 
far  as  to  have  resulted  in  the  enactment  of  laws,  in  19 15 
and  1916,  by  Congress  which  were  designed  to  discourage 
the  application  of  scientific  management  in  government 
manufacturing  establishments. 

Among  the  claims  of  the  advocates  of  scientific  man- 
agement in  its  behalf  are  that  it  substitutes  law  and  order 
in  industry  in  place  of  guesswork ;  that  it  is  therefore 
scientific  in  the  true  sense;  that  it  makes  for  labor  welfare 
in  that  it  sets  each  man  at  the  task  for  which  he  is  best 
qualified,  prevents  the  degradation  of  his  labor,  gives  him 
continuity  of  employment,  shortens  his  hours  of  labor, 
holds  out  the  reward  of  exceptionally  high  wages  for 
special  ability;  and  finally,  that  it  democratizes  industry 
by  treating  each  worker  as  an  individual  whose  w^ork  is 

**  Scientific  Management  and  Labor,  by  Prof.  Robert  Franklin  Hoxie. 


238  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

not  subject  to  the  whim  of  a  foreman.  In  short,  scientific 
management  rests  on  the  assumption  that  high  general 
wages  and  improved  conditions  of  work  are  quite  com- 
patible with  low  labor  costs, — a  theory  long  advanced  by 
most  economists. 

On  the  other  hand,  whatever  may  be  the  theory,  as  in 
other  fields  frequently,  it  was  not  found  by  the  Hoxie 
investigation  that  the  practise  always  squared  with  it. 
Under  scientific  management  functional  foremanship 
takes  the  place  of  personal  or  gang  foremanship.  The 
boss  under  the  system  supervises  not  a  body  of  men, 
but  the  execution  of  particular  tasks  or  operations  in- 
volved in  the  manufacture  of  any  article.  In  prac- 
tise it  was  very  frequently  found  that  this  functional 
foremanship  feature  had  not  been  adopted  and  that  men 
were  still  handled  in  gangs  and  not  as  individuals  en- 
gaged in  a  special  function.  No  evidence  was  found  that 
the  practise  of  selecting  men  for  their  tasks  or  training 
them  for  their  work  differed  materially  from  conditions 
in  shops  where  the  system  had  not  been  applied. 

In  the  matter  of  time  study  and  task  setting  no  basis 
was  found  for  the  claim  of  the  objective,  detached  charac- 
ter of  the  facts  and  so-called  laws  developed  by  the 
science.  Far  from  being  the  invariable  and  purely  ob- 
jective matters  that  they  are  pictured,  "the  methods  and 
results  of  time  study  and  task  setting  are,  in  practise,  the 
special  sport  of  individual  judgment  and  opinion,  subject 
to  all  the  possibilities  of  diversity,  inaccuracy,  and  in- 
justice that  arise  from  human  ignorance  and  prejudice." 
Altho    time    study    may    be    advantageously    used    to 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  239 

standardize  and  improve  methods  of  work  in  general, 
used  as  a  means  of  setting  a  definite  task  time  or  estab- 
lishing an  efficiency  scale,  it  becomes  subject  to  judgment. 
Seventeen  factors  are  enumerated  wherein  personal  judg- 
ment may  bring  about  variations  so  as  to  alter  the  task 
itself.  Even  liberally  applied,  therefore,  time  study  and 
task  setting  are  bound  to  create  considerable  injustice  and 
irritation  to  the  workers. 

Altho  scientific  management  claims  that  current 
methods  of  determining  and  paying  wages  are  unscientific, 
unjust  and  destructive  of  efficiency,  it  really  accepts  those 
current  methods.  While  it  may  determine  on  the  basis 
of  the  relative  efficiency  of  the  individual  workman  the 
premium  or  bonus  to  which  he  is  entitled  in  comparison 
with  another  worker,  yet  it  has  found  no  way  of  deter- 
mining the  ordinary  day's  wage  on  the  basis  of  which  the 
premiums  are  calculated,  other  than  the  accepted  method 
of  what  the  market  will  bear,  namely,  free  competition. 
It  has  discovered  no  way  of  determining  the  relative 
efficiency  of  labor  as  measured  by  the  share  of  its  con- 
tribution to  the  value  of  the  product  manufactured. 

Scientific  management  was  not  found  to  have  affected 
the  length  of  the  working  day ;  nor  had  it  in  any  case  con- 
sidered the  matter  of  fatigue.  There  exists  "nothing  in 
the  special  methods  of  scientific  management  to  prevent 
speeding  up  where  the  technical  conditions  make  it 
possible  and  profitable,  and  there  is  much  in  these  methods 
to  induce  it  in  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  employers." 

The  investigation  upheld  partially  the  claim  that  scien- 
tific management  makes  more  certain  promotion  and  ad- 


240  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

vancement  to  the  efficient  worker ;  that  it  lessens  the  rigors 
of  discipline  for  the  worker  because  he  is  set  a  definite 
and  simple  task  and  stimulated  by  the  premium  payment 
for  super-efficient  work.  Nothing  is,  however,  stated  in 
the  report  as  to  the  amount  of  the  added  premium,  em- 
ployers probably  being  unwilling  to  disclose  this.  Infor- 
mation on  this  point  must  therefore  be  sought  elsewhere, 
and  so  far  as  known  can  be  found  only  in  the  annual  re- 
ports of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  War  Department.  From 
the  statement  of  the  premiums  earned  during  the  last 
month  of  the  fiscal  year  191 5,  the  tabulation  on  p.  241 
was  made  up : 

The  Chief  of  Ordnance  in  the  report  referred  to  states 
that  the  system  of  scientific  management,  practised  in  the 
Watertown  Arsenal  since  191 1,  "demonstrates  the  ad- 
vantage to  the  Government  and  the  advantage  to  the 
workmen";  and  in  1916  he  noted  that  the  withdrawal  of 
premium  payments  through  restrictive  legislation  was 
met  with  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
profited  by  them. 

The  principal  claim  of  scientific  management  is  that 
it  furthers  the  democratizing  of  industry.  On  this  point 
the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  by 
Professor  Hoxie  declares: 

"In  practise,  scientific  management  generally  tends  to 
weaken  the  competitive  power  of  the  individual  worker 
and  thwarts  the  formation  of  shop  groups  and  weakens 
group  solidarity;  moreover,  scientific  management  gen- 
erally is  lacking  in  the  arrangements  and  machinery  neces- 
sary for  the  actual  voicing  of  the  workers'  ideas  and  com- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


241 


STATEMENT  OF  PREMIUMS  PAID  AT  THE  WATERTOWN  (N.  Y.) 
ARSENAL.  JUNE.  1915 

Average  Percentage 

premium  of  all  the 

Number      over  and  above  work  done 

employed     regular  pay  ex-  which  was 

Occupation                                     on               pressed  as  a  performed 

premium       percentage  of  under 

work               the  latter  premium 

Molders 9  27.62  72.48 

Machinists        164  24.13  55.15 

Machinist's  helpers       ....  25  22.29  8.90 

Blacksmiths     10  19.68  33.39 

Blacksmith's  helpers     ....  11  21.32  30.34 

Molder's  helpers 8  33.16  6.46 

Chippers 10  31.97  38.97 

Laborers 31  28.61  22.85 

Toolmakers      4  20.99  7.13 

Machine  operators 2  17.88  97.51 

Screw  makers 1  35.30  99.75 

Machinist's  apprentices       . .  1  1.90  82.04 

Furnace  helpers     2  27.35  19.25 

Apprentice  molders      ....  1  11.64  57.01 

Core  makers 1  33.33  2.01 

Firemen 1  25.34  17.35 

Steam-hammer  drivers        ..  1  24.11  39.58 

Skilled  workmen 6  26.98  27.94 

Painters 4  23.21  31.29 

Carpenter's  helpers       ....  1  43.12  5.75 

Carpenters       7  27.95  15.78 

Toolsmiths       2  33.39  16.56 

Mason's  helpers      1  35.97  30.42 

Teamsters        4  31.26  97.48 

Plumber's  helpers 1  ....  -35 

Riggers     1  32.14  47.28 

Skilled  laborers      1  32.38  14.12 

Engineers,  locomotive  crane  1  32.36  47.12 

Gang  bosses 10  10.70  29.43 

plaints,  and  for  the  democratic  consideration  and  adjust- 
ment of  grievances.  Collective  bargaining  has  ordinarily 
no  place  in  the  determination  of  matters  vital  to  the 
workers,  and  the  attitude  toward  it  is  usually  tolerant 
only  when  it  is  not  understood.  Finally,  unionism,  where 
it  means  a  vigorous  attempt  to  force  the  viewpoint  and 


242  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

claims  of  the  workers,  is  in  general  looked  upon  with 
abhorrence,  and  unions  which  are  looked  upon  with  com- 
placency are  not  the  kind  which  organized  labor  in  gen- 
eral wants,  while  the  union  cooperation  which  is  invited 
is  altogether  different  from  that  which  they  stand  ready 
to  give.  In  practise,  scientific  management  must,  there- 
fore, be  declared  autocratic;  in  tendency,  a  reversion  to 
industrial  autocracy,  which  forces  the  workers  to  depend 
upon  the  employer's  conception  of  fairness  and  limits  the 
democratic  safeguards  of  the  workers." 

Summarizing,  scientific  management  furthers  the 
modern  tendency  toward  specialization  of  the  workers; 
the  system  tends  to  break  down  existing  standards  of  uni- 
formity set  up  by  the  workmen  and  to  prevent  the  estab- 
lishment of  suitable  conditions  of  work  and  play;  if  fully 
and  properly  applied  it  inevitably  tends  to  a  constant 
breakdown  of  the  established  crafts  and  craftsmanship 
and  the  elimination  of  skill  except  for  the  lower  orders 
of  workmen ;  it  makes  possible  the  breakdown  of  the  basis 
of  present-day  unionism  in  its  dominant  form  and  renders 
collective  bargaining  as  now  practised  impossible  in  any 
effective  sense;  the  system  seems  to  be  making  the  rela- 
tively unskilled  more  efficient  than  ever  before,  but,  altho 
unskilled  labor  may  be  receiving  greater  earnings  than 
ever  before  under  it,  the  gathering  up  and  systematization 
of  the  knowledge  formerly  in  possession  of  the  workmen 
has  a  tendency  to  add  to  the  strength  of  capitalism ;  scien- 
tific management  can  not  be  said  to  make  for  the  avoid- 
ance of  strikes  and  the  establishment  of  industrial  peace. 
On  the  whole,  if  the  principles  and  practises  of  collective 


IN  AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  243 

bargaining  can  be  made  practically  applicable  to  its  opera- 
tion, probably  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  objections  to  scien- 
tific management  on  the  part  of  labor  will  be  eliminated. 
The  above  findings  resulting  from  the  investigation  and 
submitted  to  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  were 
signed  by  the  investigator,  Professor  Hoxie,  and  by 
Messrs.  Frey  and  Valentine,  collaborators  in  an  advisory 
capacity,  and  representing  the  respective  interests  of  the 
employees  and  employers. 


244  CONDITIONS   OF   LABOR 


VI 

THE   WAGE-EARNER'S    FAMILY 

The  budget  of  the  workingman's  family — its  income 
and  expenditures — is  coming  to  be  accepted,  more  gen- 
erally than  ever  before,  as  the  proper  criterion  of  the 
economic  status  of  the  wage-working  population.  A 
multitude  of  investigations  of  wages  and  earnings  of 
individual  workers  have  served  to  give  a  more  definite 
and  practical  meaning  to  what  was  once  a  rather  trite 
philosophical  concept  of  society;  the  family  is  now 
regarded  as  the  economic  as  well  as  the  social  unit. 
The  numerous  studies  of  wage-working  women,  for 
example,  have  disclosed  that  a  very  large  proportion 
of  them  actually  live  with  their  families  as  wives  or 
daughters,  and  that  a  still  larger  proportion  contribute 
to  the  support  of  their  families.  The  "pin  money" 
theory  of  women's  entrance  into  industry  has  been 
thoroughly  demolished  by  every  investigation;  it  has 
been  found  that  women  and  girls  become  earners  of 
wages  largely,  if  not  almost  entirely,  because  their 
wages  are  needed  to  make  family  incomes  adequate  to 
meet  family  needs.  Individuals  are,  for  the  greater  part 
of  their  wage-working  lives,  economic  as  well  as  social 
components  of  family  groups. 

A  number  of  studies  conducted  by  Federal  authori- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  245 

ties  and  other  agencies  during  the  last  15  years  have 
aimed  directly  at  ascertaining  the  economic  status  of 
wage-earning  families.  In  the  majority  of  these  inves- 
tigations the  budget  method  has  been  used,  data  relat- 
ing to  total  family  income  and  total  family  expendi- 
tures for  specified  periods  being  obtained.  In  other 
investigations  data  relating  to  total  family  income  alone 
have  been  secured.  In  all  over  50,000  wage-earning 
families,  carefully  selected  as  representative  of  the 
wage-working  population,  have  been  included  in  these 
studies.  They  are  regarded  as  fairly  representative  of 
family  groups  in  different  ranges  of  income,  in  the 
principal  industries  and  occupations,  and  in  the  princi- 
pal industrial  localities  in  the  United  States.  The 
resulting  statistics  are  not  estimates  or  calculations 
from  wage  data  of  individual  workers,  but  are  state- 
ments of  actual  conditions  found  to  exist.  In  a  very 
great  degree  the  conclusions  indicated  by  these  different 
studies  are  similar,  altho  allowance  must  be  made  for 
differences  in  the  localities  and  in  the  periods  covered. 
Altho  family  incomes  do  not  vary  according  to  season 
or  year  as  much  as  earnings  of  individual  workers — 
since  family  income  is  usually  the  sum  of  the  earnings 
of  two  or  more  wage-workers  and  of  income  from  other 
sources — they  are  affected  by  industrial  activity  to  a 
great  extent.  Thus  statistics  covering  a  series  of  years 
can  not  be  regarded  as  accurately  picturing  conditions  at 
any  specified  time  where  the  opportunity  for  earnings 
is  either  above  or  below  the  normal.  In  the  early 
months  of   191 5,   for  example,   the  economic  status  of 


246  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

practically  all  wage-workers'  families  was  below  nor- 
mal, while  a  year  later  it  was  abnormally  improved. 
The  absence  of  continuously  collected  statistics  renders 
exact  statements  impossible. 

If,  however,  the  results  of  these  investigations  are 
considered  in  detail  and  as  a  whole,  it  is  believed  that 
a  fairly  correct  and  intimate  view  of  conditions  in  a 
large  and  representative  number  of  wage-working  fami- 
lies is  possible.  With  this  purpose  in  mind,  and  with  a 
full  realization  of  the  limitations  upon  the  available 
data,  the  results  of  the  more  important  family  studies 
are  summarized  under  the  following  heads : 

Annual  Incomes  of  Wage- Working  Families. 

Sources  of  Family  Incomes. 

Expenditures    of    Wage-Working    Families. 

Annual  Incomes  of  Wage-Working  Families 
In  order  to  afford  as  complete  a  statement  of  the 
total  annual  incomes  of  wage-working  families  as  is 
possible  in  the  space  available  here,  the  statistics  are 
stated  in  the  following  ways:  (i)  Average  annual 
income;  (2)  Distribution  of  families  according  to 
income;  (3)  Distribution  of  families  of  different  races 
according  to  income;  (4)  Differences  in  family  income 
according  to  geographic  divisions;  (5)  Differences  in 
family  income  according  to  industry. 

Average  Annual  Income  of  Wage-Working  Families. 
— Available  data  on  the  annual  income  of  workingmen's 
families  in  the  United   States,   collected  during   recent 


IN   "AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  247 

years,  indicate  that  the  average  income  has  been  between 
$700  and  $800.  This  statement  is  subject,  of  course, 
to  the  qualification  that  the  available  statistics  are  by 
no  means  a  census  of  workingmen's  families,  but  that 
they  represent  numbers  of  families  selected  as  typical 
by  investigators,  whose  wage-earning  members  are 
employed  in  the  principal  industries  in  a  large  number  of 
industrial  localities.  An  actual  average  is  impossible 
of  statement;  the  most  definite  statement  permitted  by 
the  existing  data  is  that  there  is  a  certain  range  of 
income — between  $700  and  $8(X)  a  year — in  which  the 
actual  average  is  probably  to  be  found. 

The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  investigation  of  25,440 
workingmen's  families  in  1901,  which  included  a  rather 
large  proportion  of  native  white  and  older  immigrant 
families,  showed  an  average  annual  income  of  $750. 
The  Federal  Immigration  Commission's  investigation  of 
15,726  workingmen's  families  in  1908  and  1909,  which 
included  a  rather  large  proportion  of  newer  immigrant 
families,  showed  an  average  income  of  about  $720. 

These  are  the  two  most  extensive  investigations  in 
recent  years  which  secured  data  as  to  annual  family 
income.  Several  local  studies  of  workingmen's  fami- 
lies, while  tending  to  corroborate  the  generalization  stated 
above,  suggest  variations  according  to  locality,  race  and 
industry.  These  studies  and  their  results,  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  the  average  total  income  of  the  families 
investigated,  may  be  summarized  briefly  thus : 


248 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


AVERAGE  ANNUAL  INCOME  OF  WORKINGMEN'S  FAMILIES  IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES.     SUMMARY  FROM  RECENT 

INVESTIGATIONS 

Investigation  and  Year  in  Which  it  Was  Made  r  i^-i-pg     Average 

r: ^ ^-—— ^       included      .^"'^"^l 

1  ear  Source  of  data  ^^  ^^^^       mcome 

1901  Bureau  of  Labor's  Cost  of  Living  study, 
all  sections  of  U.  S.,  industries  and 
races  of  workers       25,440        $749 

1903-4  Mrs.  L.  B.  More:  budgetary  study  of 
families  in  Greenwich  Village,  New 
York  City 200  851 

1907  R.  C.  Chapin :  budgetary  study  of  fami- 
lies of  varied  races  and  occupations  in 
New    York   City       391  838 

1907  New  York  State  Conference  of  Charities 

and  Corrections :  studies  of  families  of 
varied  races  and  occupations  in 
Rochester,   New  York     100  600 

1908  M.   F.   Byington    (Russell  Sage  Founda- 

tion) :     families    of    steel    workers    in 

Homestead,   Pa 90         349 

1908-9  Bureau  of  Labor :  studies  of  silk,  cotton, 
men's  clothing,  and  glass  workers' 
families  in  various  localities  in  which 
mothers  and  children  were  wage- 
earners  8,741  883 

1908-9  Immigration  Commission  :  data  for  fami- 
lies in  38  principal  industries  in  all 
eastern  and  southern  sections,  of  all 
races      15,726         721 

1909-10  University  of  Chicago  Settlement:  fami- 
lies of  Chicago  stock-yards  workers, 
principally  of  races  of  recent  immi- 
gration    184  442 


The  above  data  include  only  families  for  which  sta- 
tistics of  actual  total  family  income  were  obtained,  and 
are  not  based  on  computations  from  weekly  wage 
Statistics  or  statistics  of  annual  earnings  of  individual 
workers. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  249 

Distribution  of  Wage-Working  Families  According 
to  Income. — Statistics  of  average  annual  family  income 
could  not,  of  course,  depict  actual  conditions,  even  if 
such  statistics  were  available  for  all  families.  Even 
if  the  average  income  were  sufficient  to  maintain  the 
average  family  in  decency  and  in  health,  there  would 
of  necessity  be  a  large  proportion  with  incomes  below 
the  average  and  below  an  adequate  standard.  The  dis- 
tribution of  families  according  to  income,  as  found  by 
the  two  principal  investigations  in  recent  years,  is  shown 
in  the  following  summary  tabulation : 

Per  cent,  of  families  having  a  total  income 


Investigation  and  Year  in  S  t;  S      ^ 


Which  It  Was  Made 


6r^      i-i  W  (U  ^  V 

u  CO  -a  Ta  -a  -o 

3  « •*-'  c  a  c  a 

^  p  p  p  D 


U.    S.    Bureau    of    Labor.    1901       11,156a     1.3     21.2      ....      81.2     94.5       5.5 
U.   S.  Immigration    Commission, 

1908-1909 1S,726&     7.6     31.3     64.0      ....     82.6     17.4 

a  These  included  only  families  in  which  the  head  was  the  wage-earning 
member,  and  the  families  were  almost  entirely  native  born  and  of  the  older 
immigration  from  Great  Britain  and  Northern  Europe. 

b  These  included  families  without  regard  to  proportion  of  income  contributed 
by  other  members  than  family  head,  and  a  majority  of  the  families  were  of  the 
newer  immigration  from  Southern  and  Central  Europe. 

Distribution  of  Wage-Working  Families  of  Different 
Races  According  to  Income. — The  extensive  investiga- 
tions of  the  Immigration  Commission  found  that  there 
was  a  marked  difference  between  the  incomes  of  fami- 
lies of  two  general  groups,  i.e.,  (i)  the  native-born  and 
older  immigration,  and  (2)  the  newer  immigration.  The 
findings  of  the  Commission  on  this  point  are  summar- 
ized in  the  following  table : 


250  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ANNUAL  FAMILY  INCOME  OF  15,726  WAGE-EARNERS'  FAMILIES  IN 

1908-1909    by    NATIVITY    GROUPS    AND    RACE;    PER    CENT. 

HAVING  TOTAL  INCOME  OF  EACH  SPECIFIED 

AMOUNT  I 

■RT  Per  cent,  of  families  having  a  total 

^  „  „  berof  '"""^ 

General  Nativity  and  Race  of  families  ' ~~^ 

Head  of  Family  selected  Under    Under    Under    Under    Under 

^  $300        $500        $750     $1,000     $1,500 

Native   white        1,070  2.2  13.5  45.1  72.7  93.6 

Total    native-born        1,901  2.2  17.6  49.0  74.1  93.2 

Older  immigration: 

Canadian,  French       477  1.9  10.9  44.2  72.1  91.0 

English           425  1.9  11.8  37.9  62.4  88.9 

German          887  2.4  15.1  44.9  70.9  91.5 

Irish       675  2.1  12.1  38.4  61.0  84.1 

Swedish          460  0.9  6.3  34.8  66.7  89.1 

Newer  immigration: 

Bohemian  and  Moravian   .  .      . .  437  3.7  22.4  60.2  80.8  94.1 

Croatian         560  10.4  37.9  68.9  84.1  93.8 

Hebrew          660  9.1  33.5  69.4  87.0  97.0 

Italian,    North      583  9.1  36.4  70.8  88.7  96.7 

Italian,     South 1,380  16.6  50.9  79.5  91.4  98.5 

Lithuanian 763  6.9  33.2  73.9  90.8  97.6 

Magyar           860  12.9  40.2  75.5  90.7  98.0 

Polish 2,038  10.5  44.0  79.0  91.4  97.8 

Ruthenian      571  10.0  43.3  82.1  94.4  98.9 

Slovak 1,243  10.9  43.8  77.9  92.0  98.9 

Grand  total 15,726  7.6         31.3         64.0        82.6        95.0 

Differences  in  Family  Income  According  to  Geo- 
graphic Divisions. — Workingmen's  families  were  found 
to  have  larger  average  incomes  in  the  northern  than 
in  the  southern  States  in  spite  of  the  larger  proportion 
of  newer  immigrants  in  the  north.  This  situation 
was  set  forth  clearly  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's 
investigation  of  25,440  families  in  1901,  as  shown  in 
the  following  compilation  on  p.  251. 

This  difference  was  found  to  prevail  by  the  later 
investigations  of  the  Immigration  Commission  in  sev- 
eral industries.  In  iron  and  steel  manufacturing,  for 
example,  the  average  annual  family  income  of  steel 
workers  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  was  found  to  be  $647 ; 

>  Vol.  xix.,  p.   125,   Immigration  Commission   reports. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  251 

AVERAGE  FAMILY  INCOME  OF  25,440  WORKINGMEN'S  FAMILIES  IN 
1901,  BY  GEOGRAPHICAL  DIVISIONS  ^ 

Number  Average  Total 

of  size  income 

Geographical  Division  families  of  per 

selected  family  family 

North  Atlantic  States 13,782  4.80  $755.49 

South  Atlantic  States     2,193  5.16  690.80 

North  Central  States      7,340  4.98  751.62 

South  Central  States       1,221  5.22  675.42 

Western   States        904  4.14  883.39 

Total 25,440  4.88  749.50 

in  Birmingham,  Ala.,  district,  $492.  The  federal  Bureau 
of  Labor  in  1907-9  also  found  similar  differences  in  the 
cotton  textile  industry,  as  is  set  forth  later  in  this 
summary. 

Differences  in  Family  Income  "According  to  Indus- 
try.— Of  more  importance  are  the  differences  in  family 
income  according  to  the  industry  in  which  the  family 
head  is  employed.  Roughly  speaking,  approximately  one- 
half  of  the  families  of  several  thousand  typical  work- 
ers in  agricultural  implements,  collars  and  cuffs,  cotton 
goods,  furniture,  glass,  show  manufacturing,  and  in 
iron-ore  mining,  oil  refining  and  slaughtering  and  meat 
packing,  were  found  to  have  incomes  of  over  $750. 
But  approximately  a  fourth  of  the  families  of  workers 
employed  in  agricultural  implements,  clothing,  cotton 
goods  and  glass  manufacturing,  and  in  slaughtering 
and  meat  packing,  had  incomes  of  less  than  $500,  while 
over  a  third  of  the  families  of  anthracite  coal  miners, 
leather,  silk  goods  and  woolen  and  worsted  workers 
had  less  than  $500.  Nearly  half  of  the  families  of 
bituminous  coal  miners  and  over  a  half  of  the   fami- 

»  18th  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  p.  366. 


252 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


lies  of  iron  and  steel  workers  had  incomes  under  $500. 
Data  for  incomes  of  families  of  workers  in  the  vari- 
ous principal  industries  have  been  summarized  from 
the  extensive  reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission 
(Volume  19)  in  the  following  tables: 


PER  CENT.   OF  FAMILIES   HAVING  A  TOTAL  YEARLY  INCOME   OF 
EACH  SPECIFIED  AMOUNT,   BY  INDUSTRY 


Industry 

Agricultural  implements  and  vehi- 
cles        

Cigars  and  tobacco     

Clothing  

Coal  mining,  anthracite 
Coal   mining,   bituminous    .  . 

Collars   and   Cuffs        

Coppter  mining  and  smelting 

Cotton  goods         

Furniture        

Glass       

Gloves     

Iron  and  steel       

Iron    ore    mining         

Leather 

Oil   refining 

Shoes       

Silk   goods      

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing.  . 

Sugar    refining       

Woolen  and  worsted  goods 
Diversified  manufactures    . . 

Total $721 


Per  cent,   of  families  having  a 

total 

income 

family 

Under 

Under 

Under 

Under 

Under 

ncome 

$300 

$500 

$750 

$1,000 

$1,500 

$741 

4.7 

25.2 

58.2 

85.1 

96.4 

970 

0.8 

3.2 

21.8 

58.9 

94.4 

713 

6.3 

28.9 

66.2 

84.8 

96.2 

618 

5.2 

36.0 

73.8 

90.2 

99.1 

577 

9.7 

47.2 

81.2 

92.1 

98.3 

861 

2.5 

11.4 

42.2 

72.2 

93.7 

991 

0.4 

1.2 

28.7 

68.2 

88.0 

791 

3.0 

25.8 

59.2 

77.2 

92.0 

769 

2.5 

16.7 

56.2 

81.4 

96.5 

755 

4.9 

23.2 

58.7 

82.1 

95.1 

904 

0.4 

6.1 

41.7 

74.3 

93.9 

568 

20.8 

52.1 

77.7 

90.1 

97.1 

990 

2.2 

9.5 

43.3 

71.0 

86.1 

671 

5.9 

38.3 

70.4 

84.0 

96.5 

828 

3.8 

18.1 

53.4 

74.7 

93.2 

765 

7.5 

32.1 

59.7 

78.7 

93.6 

635 

16.1 

38.0 

69.8 

88.7 

98.4 

781 

3.2 

22.3 

58.9 

79.0 

93.4 

661 

4.6 

19.7 

75.7 

92.5 

98.8 

661 

10.6 

37.1 

68.8 

85.1 

97.3 

773 

5.4 

27.3 

59.7 

78.8 

93.2 

7.6 


31.3 


64.0 


82.6 


95.0 


The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  investigation  in  1907- 
1909  of  8,741  families  in  which  the  family  income  was 
partly  contributed  by  wife  or  children  or  both,  as  shown 
in  the  Report  on  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners, 
found  the  average  family  income  to  be  as  follows  in 
four  industries: 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  253 


Industry 


Number  of         Average  of  all 
families  income 


Silk  manufacturing       1,909  $966 

Men's  clothing         2,274  790 

Glass  manufacturing     2,137  855 

Cotton  textiles : 

New  England      854  1,134 

South      1,567  822 

This  investigation,  however,  included  families  v^hose 
incomes  were  probably  higher  than  the  average  in  the 
industries  named,  since  only  families  where  women  and 
children  were  employed  for  wages  were  made  the 
subject  of  study. 

Sources  of  Family  Income 

Less  than  half  of  the  wage-earners'  families  in  the 
United  States  whose  heads  are  at  work  have  been 
found  to  be  supported  by  the  earnings  of  the  husband 
or  father.  In  over  one-fifth  of  them  the  children  con- 
tributed to  family  income  from  their  earnings.  In  from 
5  to  lo  per  cent,  of  them  the  wife  contributed  to  the 
family  income  out  of  her  earnings.  In  over  one-fourth 
of  them  the  family  income  was  supplemented  by  pay- 
ments of  rent  or  board  from  outside  persons.  The 
larger  the  family,  as  a  general  rule,  the  larger  were  the 
contributions  from  wage-earning  children.  It  was  shown 
that  the  father  reaches  the  limit  of  his  earning  oppor- 
tunity early  in  the  family  life,  and  that  the  children,  if 
family  income  is  to  be  increased  sufficiently  to  maintain 
a  minimum  standard  of  decent  living  as  they  reach 
adolescence,   must  go  to  work. 

These  conclusions  seem  to  be  warranted  by  several 
authoritative,  comprehensive  and  careful  investigations 


254  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  the  economic  status  of  wage-earners'  families  in  the 
United  States  during  the  past  fifteen  years. 

The  situation  has  been  most  comprehensively  set 
forth  in  the  results  of  a  recent  investigation  of  nearly 
16,000  wage-workers'  families,^  Avhich  is  corroborated 
by  other  investigations  into  specific  industries.  In 
only  58  per  cent,  of  the  native  families  was  family 
income  supplied  entirely  by  the  earnings  of  the  hus- 
band. In  15  per  cent,  of  the  families  the  children  con- 
tributed to  family  income,  and  in  about  8  per  cent,  of 
the  families  payments  from  boarders  and  lodgers  helped 
to  make  up  the  family  fund.  In  families  of  foreign- 
born  workers  the  proportion  supported  by  the  husband 
was  considerably  less,  and  payments  from  boarders  and 
lodgers  figured  much  more  extensively.  The  follow- 
ing tabulation  sets   forth  the  situation  in  detail : 

SOURCES   OF  ENTIRE  FAMILY  INCOME   IN   15,704  WORKINGMEN'S 
FAMILIES  IN  THE  PRINCIPAL  INDUSTRIES,  1908-1909 

Per  cent,  of  families^ 

, * , 

Source  of  Entire  Family  Income  Native     Foreigrn- 

( white)        bom       Total  a 

Husband      ..     58.4  38.0  40.7 

Husband  and  wife 3.1  3.9  3.8 

Husband  and  children 14.0  12.8  12.7 

Husband,  wife  and  children         0.5  0.5  0.5 

Husband  and  boarders  or  lodgers    ....  6.7  25.5  23.2 

Wife     0.3  0.2  0.2 

Wife  and  children 1.0  0.4  0.5 

Wife  and  boarders  or  lodgers 0.2  0.1  0.1 

Children       1.6  1.4  1.4 

Children  and  boarders  or  lodgers     ....  0.2  0.6  0.5 

Boarders  or  lodgers       0.0  0.3  0.3 

Other  sources  and  combinations  of  sources  14.0  16.2  15.9 
O  Including  native  negro  and  native  born  of  foreign  father. 

The  sources  of  family  income  among  older  immigrant 

'  Reports  of  Immigration  Commission,  \'ol.  19,  pp.  129-130. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


255 


families,  from  Great  Britain  and  northern  Europe  are 
very  similar  to  those  found  to  exist  in  native  families. 
The  real  difference  exists  between  the  native  and  older 
immigrant  group  and  the  newer  immigrant  group.  This  is 
clearly  shown  by  the  statistics  published  in  the  Reports  of 
the  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission,  summarized  below : 

OLD    AND    NEW    IMMIGRATION    COMPARED    WITH    RESPECT    TO 
SOURCE  OF  INCOME  BY   RACE   (STUDY  OF  HOUSEHOLDS)^ 

Per   cent,   of   families  having 
entire  income  from 


Race 


Husband 


Old  immigration: 

Canadian,  French  . .     . .  32.7 

English      41.3 

German     37.3 

Irish          33.2 

Norwegian       46.2 

Scotch       38.2 

Welsh       35.6 

New  immigration : 

Armenian         29.6 

Brava        69.0 

Croatian 34.3 

Cuban        51.2 

Greek         38.8 

Hebrew     54.4 

Italian,  North         ,.     ..  41.0 

Italian,    South 39.7 

Lithuanian       28.7 

Magyar     32.1 

Polish        35.8 

Portuguese       29.5 

Roumanian       20.3 

Russian     43.4 

Ruthenian         27.8 

Servian      8.6 

Slovak       44.0 

Slovenian          48.5 

Syrian       28.9 

^  Reports  of  Immigration  Commission,  Vol. 


Husband 

Husband 

and 

and 

boarders 

Unspecified 

children 

and 
lodgers 

sources 

29.6 

6.3 

14.3 

25.9 

7.1 

14.6 

22.6 

9.6 

23.2 

26.5 

6.4 

20.0 

26.9 

0.0 

19.2 

26.0 

4.1 

26.0 

26.7 

2.2 

26.7 

8.2 

14.3 

27.6 

0.0 

10.3 

13.8 

3.8 

52.0 

8.4 

14.0 

9.3 

11.6 

8.2 

18.4 

16.3 

17.7 

13.9 

9.7 

7.4 

27.3 

17.8 

9.3 

26.5 

14.2 

5.0 

43.7 

19.7 

4.8 

43.5 

14.3 

8.5 

37.7 

13.2 

14.3 

7.4 

26.4 

0.0 

65.2 

11.6 

2.6 

46.1 

6.6 

5.8 

41.7 

15.6 

0.0 

79.3 

5.2 

7.8 

29.3 

14.7 

9.2 

29.4 

6.1 

9.9 

16.2 

14.8 

xix,  p.  132. 


256  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  conclusion  seems  warranted  that  a  slightly  larger 
proportion  of  children  contributed  to  family  income  in 
native  families  than  in  immigrant  families,  but  children 
were  much  more  frequent  contributors  to  family  income 
in  the  case  of  older  immigrant  families  than  in  the 
case  of  either  native-born  or  newer  immigrant  fami- 
lies. The  prevalence  of  the  practise  among  newer  immi- 
grant households  of  taking  boarders  and  lodgers  was 
clearly  shown  in  the  statistics  of  sources  of  family 
income. 

To  state  the  situation  in  another  way,  it  has  been 
found  that  in  about  7  per  cent,  of  wage-earners'  fami- 
lies the  wage-earning  wife  contributed  to  the  family 
income  and  in  about  22  per  cent,  children  wage-earn- 
ers were  contributors.  In  10  per  cent,  of  native  white 
families  dependence  was  placed  upon  boarders  and 
lodgers  for  a  part  of  the  family  income,  while  in  30 
per  cent,  of  all  families  having  immigrant  heads  pay- 
ments from  boarders  and  lodgers  helped  to  constitute 
the  family  income.  The  following  summarv  nresents 
these  statistics  in  detail :  ^ 

PER    CENT.    OF    IS, 704    FAMILIES    HAVINO    AN    INCOME    FROM 

HUSBAND,  WIFE,  CHILDREN,  BOARDERS  OR  LODGERS 

AND  OTHER  SOURCES 

Per  cent,  of  families 
A ^ 

Source  of  Family  Income  Native  Foreign- 

(white)  born  Total  a 

Earnings,  of 

Husband      94.9  95.8  95.8 

Wife     7.2  6.9  6.9 

Contributions  of  children  ..      ..  21.5  22.5  22.2 

Payments  of  boarders  or  lodgers  10.0  32.9  30.1 

Other  sources        12.3  12.7  12.6 

a  Including  native  negro  and  native  born  of  foreign  father. 
"  Reporf.s  of  the  Immigration   Commission,  Vol.   XIX.,  ji.   128. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  257 

Not  only  does  the  proportion  of  family  income  from 
husband,  wife,  children  and  boarders  and  lodgers  vary 
according  to  racial  groups  and  races,  but  it  varies 
according  to  industry.  It  is  clear  that  in  industries  where 
the  annual  earnings  of  adult  males  are  low,  and  where  the 
proportion  of  unskilled  workers  is  large,  the  earnings  of 
heads  of  families  must  be  supplemented  by  income  from 
other  sources.  Thus,  in  those  industries  where  women 
and  children  are  employed  it  was  found  that  the  family 
was  dependent  upon  them  for  a  considerable  proportion 
of  its  income.  This  was  particularly  true  of  cigar  and 
tobacco  manufacturing  and  the  cotton  goods,  gloves, 
silk  goods  and  woolen  and  worsted  goods  industries. 
In  anthracite  coal  mining  in  a  large  proportion  of  the 
families  investigated  children  were  contributors  to  fam- 
ily income,  a  condition  due  to  the  employment  of 
"breaker  boys,"  while  none  of  the  mothers  were  em- 
ployed. The  same  situation  was  found  to  prevail  in 
furniture  manufacturing  and  slaughtering  and  meat- 
packing. The  conditions  for  the  principal  industries 
are  summarized  according  to  general  nativity  groups  as 
shown  on  p.  258. 

In  silk  manufacturing  the  proportion  of  family  in- 
come contributed  by  the  wife  and  children  is  large. 
Even  children  under  16  years  of  age  in  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  silk  mills  were  found  by  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Labor  to  contribute  considerably  to  family 
income,  as  the  table  on  p.  259,  compiled  from  its  investi- 
gation, shows. 


258 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


SOURCES   OF   FAMILY   INCOME   IN   FAMILIES   OF   WAGE-WORKERS 

IN   SPECIFIED   INDUSTRIES   BY   GENERAL 

NATIVITY  GROUPS  ' 

Per  cent,  of  families  having  entire  income 
from 


Husband 
Industry  and 

Husband  wife 

Agricultural  implements 

Native         70.2  2.8 

Foreign       42.7  1.2 

Boots  and  shoes: 

Native         42.1  6.3 

Foreign       33.0  6.7 

Cigars  and  tobacco  (Tampa,  Fla.)  : 

Foreign       51.6  11.3 

Clothing: 

Native         47.3  4.4 

Foreign       48.2  4.6 

Anthracite   coal    mining: 

Foreign       34.2  .... 

Cotton  goods: 

Native         46.5  7.0 

Foreign       31.0  12.4 

Furniture: 

Native         55.2  1.7 

Foreign       39.4  1.2 

Glass: 

Native         65.3  1.7 

Foreign       39.9  0.4 

Gloves: 

Native ..  33.2  18.5 

Foreign       23.2  29.1 

Iron  and  steel: 

Native         66.2  3.0 

Foreign       36.1  1.4 

Iron  ore  mining: 

Native         61.0  .... 

Foreign       40.1  .... 

Leather: 

Native         54.3  4.0 

Foreign      57.3  1.4 

Oil  Refining: 

Native         71.0  3.2 

Foreign       40.3  1.3 

Silk: 

Native         61.9  0.0 

Foreign       44.5  13.2 

Sugar  refining: 

F"oreign       30.2  0.6 

Woolen  and  worsted: 

Foreign      23.4  15.5 

'  Reports  of   United   States  Immigration   Commission. 


Husband 

Husband 

and  lodg- 

and 

ers  or 

children 

boarders 

9.9 

9.2 

18.8 

20.:^ 

13.5 

8.7 

11.3 

25.0 

13.7 

8.9 

17.8 

14.9 

17.3 

14.6 

14.1 

30.6 

15.5 

7.0 

19.2 

9.5 

15.5 

13.8 

27.0 

13.1 

11.9 

7.6 

9.9 

36.6 

0.0 

11.1 

12.3 

5.4 

11.4 

6.7 

7.1 

37.7 

4.8 

19.0 

4.8 

32.9 

13.3 

12.0 

18.4 

28.3 

9.7 

6.5 

10.8 

29.9 

14.3 

4.8 

15.0 

10.6 

8.1 

50.0 

13.1 

15.2 

IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  259 

PER    CENT,    OF   FAMILY   INCOME   FROM    SPECIFIED    SOURCES    IN 
1,909  FAMILIES  OF  SILK-MILL  WORKERS  » 

Per  cent,  of  family  income 
from  specified  sources 

, * « 

Source  of  Family  Income  New  Jersey  Pennsylvania 

silk  mills  silk  mills 

Father     46.3  34.0 

Mother 36.8  23.1 

Children  over  16: 

Males 35.6  38.2 

Females       42.2  26.3 

Children,  14-15  years  of  age  . .     . .  17.6  16.2 

Children  under  14      11.6  13.4 

The  same  situation  was  found  to  exist  in  the  glass 
industry  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor,   thus: 

SOURCE  OF  FAMILY  INCOME  IN  2,137  FAMILIES  OF  GLASS- 
WORKERS  » 

„  .,  Per  cent,  of  family  income 

Source  of  Family  Income  f^^^  specified  sources 

Father 56.0 

Mother 25.1 

Children  14  and  15 18.9 

Children  under  14      15.7 

In  2,274  families  of  clothing  industry  workers  it  was 
found  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  that  the  average  annual 
earnings  of  the  fathers  was  $400;  of  mothers,  $150; 
of  children  14  and  15  years  of  age,  $129,  and  of  chil- 
dren under  14  years  of  age,  $78. 

In  the  textile  industry,  which  has  been  remarkable 
for  its  employment  of  women  and  children,  the  fathers 
of  mill  families  were  but  little  more  important  as  bread- 
winners than  the  mothers  and  the  children.     The  moth- 

*  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.  iv,  p.  263. 
^Ibid..  Vol.  iii,  pp.  2S4-2SS. 


26o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ers  contributed  more  to  the  family  income  in  northern 
than  in  southern  mill  towns,  while  children  under  i6 
years  of  age  were  larger  contributors  in  the  southern 
mill  towns  than  in  the  north.  While  the  family's  de- 
pendence upon  the  earnings  of  children  under  12  years 
of  age  was  greater  in  southern  textile  localities  than 
in  northern,  the  proportion  of  family  income  contributed 
by  children  in  the  cotton  mills,  both  northern  and 
southern,  as  compared  with  the  proportion  in  other  occu- 
pations in  which  children  can  engage  was  relatively  high, 
and  the  inducement  to  their  early  entrance  into  this  indus- 
try was  unquestionably  great.  Sources  of  the  income  of 
representative  textile  mill  families  are  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing summary  tabulation: 

PER  CENT.  OF  FAMILY  INCOME  FROM  SPECIFIED  SOURCES  IN  2,421 

FAMILIES  OF  TEXTILE  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

AND   SOUTHERN   MILLS'" 

Per  cent,  of  family  income 
from  specified  sources 

Source  of  Family  Income  ^ ^ — > 

New  England  Southern 

Father     37.7  34.0 

Mother 32.4  27.9 

Children  14  and  15     18.7  22.9 

Children  12  and  13     14.3  17.6 

Children  under  12      3.6  13.5 

Differences  in  the  relative  importance  of  the  princi- 
pal sources  of   family  income  in  different   sections   of , 
the  country  were  exhibited  by  the  Federal  cost  of  living 
investigation  in    1901.     The  general  conclusions  as  to 

10  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.   i,  p.   432. 


IN   "^AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  261 

sources  of  family  income  coincide  remarkably  with  the 
results  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Commission  inves- 
tigations made  eight  years  later,  but  the  data  were  so 
arranged  as  to  indicate  geographical  differences.  These 
differences  were  shown  to  be  principally  between  the 
northern  and  southern  states,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
between  the  western  states  and  the  rest  of  the  country,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  indicated  in  the  following : 

SOURCES  OF  INCOME  OF  25,440  WORKINGMEN'S  FAMILIES  IN  1901 
BY  GEOGRAPHICAL  DIVISIONS  " 

Per  cent,  of  families  with  income  from  Occupation   of 


Division 

' 

Boarders 

N 

Geographical 

Husbands 

Wives 

Children 

and 
lodgers 

Other 
sources 

North  Atlantic. 

95.9 

9.0 

21.6 

23.4 

15.1 

South  Atlantic. 

93.4 

13.9 

28.5 

28.4 

18.0 

North  Central.. 

97.6 

6.0 

21.9 

22.1 

11.3 

South  Central  . . 

92.9 

11.7 

24.2 

23.9 

21.1 

Western     . .     . . 

92.1 

2.Z 

14.2 

16.0 

8.7 

United  States  .. 

95.9 

8.5 

22.1 

23.2 

14.3 

Looking  at  the  family  income  problem  from  another 
point  of  view,  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  investi- 
gation of  wage-earning  women  in  stores  and  factories 
who  live  at  home  presented  some  significant  data.  The 
average  weekly  earnings  of  factory  girls  living  at  home 
in  seven  large  cities  was  found  to  be  $6.40,  of  which 
$5.46  went  to  the  family  fund.  This  extensive  study 
showed  that  from  53  to  75  per  cent,  of  the  girls  con- 
tributed all  of  their  earnings  to  the  family  income,  as 
indicated  in  the  following  table : 

"Compiled  from  18th  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  p.  51. 


262 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


CONTRIBUTIONS   TO    FAMILY   INCOME    BY    WOMEN    WORKERS   IN 

FACTORIES,  MILLS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  ESTABLISHMENTS 

IN  SEVEN  CITIES,  LIVING  AT  HOME  » 


Average 

City  weekly 

earnings 

Boston      $6.47 

Chicago 7.26 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  . .  6.41 

New  York      6.09 

Philadelphia 6.72 

St.  Louis 6.61 

Total $6.40 


Average 
weekly 
amount 
paid  to 
family 

Per  cent. 

Paying  all 

earnings  to 

family 

$5.16 

61.7 

5.71 

81.3 

4.49 

53.5 

5.64 

88.1 

5.40 

67.9 

5.45 

74.9 

$5.46 


An  investigation  by  the  same  authority  of  women 
workers  in  department  and  other  retail  stores  in  the 
same  cities  showed  a  very  similar  condition,  thus : 

CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    FAMILY    INCOME    BY    WOMEN    WORKERS    IN 
RETAIL  STORES  IN  SEVEN  CITIES,  LIVING  AT  HOME  ^^ 


Average 

City  weekly 

earnings 

Boston      $6.71 

Chicago 8.05 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  . .  6.94 

New  York      6.00 

Philadelphia 7.51 

St.  Louis        6.37 

Total $6.88 

"  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.  v,  p.  25. 
V>  Ibid. 


Average 
weekly 

amount 
paid  to 
family 

Per  cent. 

Paying  all 

earnings  to 

family 

$4.83 

55.6 

6.49 

78.7 

4.33 

47.9 

5.29 

84.3 

5.61 

56.8 

5.39 

77.9 

$5.39 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  263 

The    Connecticut    report    shows    a    similar    situation 
according  to  general  nativity  groups/^  thus: 


Nativity 

Number 
included 

Per 

cent,  contribut 
family  income 

A 

ing  to 

Groups 

All  of 

Part  of 

None  of 

Native  white: 

in  report 

earnings 

earnings 

earnings 

Native  parents  . , 

454 

61.6 

36.1 

2.2 

Foreign  parents. . 

887 

69.9 

29.2 

0.9 

Foreign  born  . .     . . 

660 

74.6 

24.7 

0.6 

Total 2,001  69.6  29.2  1.1 

The  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission's  Investiga- 
tion in  1914  of  women  wage-workers  in  Wisconsin 
also  afforded  some  positive  conclusions  as  to  the  amount 
actually  contributed  to  the  family  income  by  the  wage- 
earning  women  living  at  home  "and  the  large  number 
of  women  and  young  girls  who  through  death  or  dis- 
ability of  the  natural  head  of  the  family,  were  forced 
to  carry  all  or  a  large  share  of  the  burden  of  the  family 
expense."  Commenting  on  the  data  obtained  on  this 
point,  the  Commission  concluded : 

"The  fact  that  out  of  13,686  wage-earning  women 
living  at  home,  exclusive  of  widows  and  married 
women,  38  per  cent,  give  all  their  earnings  to  the  fam- 
ily, while  only  2  per  cent,  give  nothing,  does  not  fur- 
nish much  evidence  in  favor  of  the  pin-money  theory." 

The  conclusion  that  the  income  of  the  girl  living  at 
home  is  often  a  main  factor  in  the  family  support 
instead  of  a  somewhat  subordinate  item  was  unmistak- 

"  Page  253,  quoted  by  C.  E.  Persons  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
February,   1915,   p.   225. 


264  CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 

ably  corroborated  by  the  extensive  data  obtained  by  the 
Wisconsin  investigation. 

The  importance  of  contributions  from  wage-earning 
women  to  the  income  of  the  workingman's  family  is 
further  indicated  by  the  statistics  as  to  age  of  women 
workers  and  as  to  the  proportion  living  at  home. 

Without  going  into  detailed  statistical  presentations, 
it  may  be  stated  that  about  one-fourth  of  all  women 
employees  in  manufacturing  and  mercantile  establish- 
ments are  from  i6  to  20  years  of  age  and  about  a 
fourth  are  from  21  to  25  years  of  age.  Thus,  consid- 
erably over  one-half  of  the  female  wage-earners  em- 
ployed in  industry  are  girls  and  women  under  25  years 
of  age.  The  younger  the  woman  worker,  it  has  been 
found,  the  greater  is  the  proportion  of  her  earnings 
contributed  to   family  income. 

The  large  proportion  of  girls  and  young  women  in 
the  female  wage-earning  group  suggests  that  they  are 
not  independent  workers,  but  members  of  families. 
This  is  thoroughly  borne  out  by  all  the  statistics  avail- 
able. The  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  investigation  of 
women  employed  in  stores  and  factories,  already  re- 
ferred to,  showed  that  over  three- fourths  of  the  women 
in  stores  and  over  four-fifths  of  the  women  in  fac- 
tories lived  at  home.^^  Another  investigation  showed 
even  a  higher  percentage. ^^  The  Census  for  about  900,- 
000  working  women  (excluding  servants  and  waitresses 

>*  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.  v,  p.  IS. 

"McLean,  WaRc-Earning  Women,  Data  for  5,503  waRC-earning  women  in 
New  York,  Chicago,  New  England  and  New  Jersey,  showed  that  approximately 
85  per  cent,  lived  at  home. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  265 

who  lived  with  their  employers)  showed  about  81  per 
cent,  lived  at  home.  Of  those  living  at  home,  nearly 
three-fourths  were  living  in  families  where  there  were 
other  breadwinners.  The  recent  investigation  of  wage- 
earning  women  in  Wisconsin  by  the  Wisconsin  Indus- 
trial Commission  (1914)  showed  that  of  17,356  women 
workers  about  81  per  cent,  lived  at  home. 

In  no  other  situation,  possibly,  is  the  dependence 
upon  earnings  of  wives  and  children  so  seriously  sig- 
nificant as  in  the  "sweating"  trades.  In  an  investiga- 
tion of  "home-working"  conditions  in  certain  large 
cities,  only  about  1 1  per  cent,  of  the  husbands  in  typi- 
cal families  where  home  work  was  done  earned  $500  or 
more  per  annum,  while  over  a  half  of  them  earned 
less  than  $300  a  year.  In  more  detail  the  situation  is 
shown  in  the  following  tabulation : 

EARNINGS    OF    HUSBANDS    OF    "HOME-WORKING"    WOMEN    IN" 

CHICAGO,  ROCHESTER,  NEW  YORK,   PHILADELPHIA 

AND  BALTIMORE  " 

Range  of  Per  cent,  of 

Annual  532  husbands 

Income  of  home-workers 

Under  $100 3.8 

$100-$199       18.4 

200-  299       34.4 

300-  399       20.3 

400-  499       12.2 

500  and  over      10.9 

In  New  York,  where  the  largest  number  of  homes 
were  investigated,  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  husbands 
of  women  employed  as  homeworkers  earned  less  than 
$300  annually. 

"  Compiled  from  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol.  ii,  p.  244. 


266  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  necessity  for  contributions  to  family  income 
from  other  sources  than  the  husband  is  seen  in  practi- 
cally all  industries  and  occupations  where  the  level  of 
wages  is  low  or  where  irregularity  of  employment  is 
so  great  as  to  reduce  the  opportunity  for  earning  wages 
adequate  to  support  a  family.  An  illustration  of  this 
is  afforded  by  a  recent  investigation  of  wages  and 
family  budgets  in  the  Chicago  stockyards  district.""  One 
hundred  and  eighty-four  families,  chiefly  of  newer  im- 
migrants employed  at  unskilled  labor,  were  selected  as 
representative  and  were  studied  in  a  detailed  manner. 
In  only  94  families,  or  about  one-half,  was  the  father 
the  only  wage-earner;  in  52  families  children  of  14  or 
15  years  of  age  were  at  work;  in  21  cases  the  wife 
worked  all  or  part  time  for  wages;  92  families  had 
incomes  from  boarders  or  lodgers,  and  42  families  had 
other  sources  of  income.  "Probably  the  two  most 
significant  facts  disclosed  by  our  analysis  of  the  184 
family  incomes,"  said  the  report  of  the  investigators, 
"are,  first,  that  the  average  income  was  $854.13  per 
family;  and,  second,  that  the^  average  income  secured 
by  the  170  husbands  who  were  at  work  was  $503.15,  or 
less  than  $10  per  week."  These  figures,  it  may  be 
noted,  coincide  very  closely  with  the  statistics  obtained 
for  this  industry  by  the  Federal  Immigration  Commis- 
sion and  may  be  regarded  as  typical.  The  following 
summary  for  the  184  families  shows  the  situation 
clearly : 

"•  By  J.  C.  Kennedy  and  others  for  the  University  of  Chicago  Settlement. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  267 

SOURCES  OF  FAMILY  INCOME  IN   184  FAMILIES  IN  CHICAGO 
STOCKYARDS   DISTRICT" 

Families  securing 
Source   of    Family    Income  All  families  income  from 

specific  source 

Husband        $464.87  $503.15 

Children,  14-15  years  of  age     . .  54.38  200.14 

Other  members  of  family..      ..  210.01  552.02 

Lodgers 91.72  183.44 

Other  sources       33.15  145.23 

Total       $854.13 

The  relation  between  the  dependency  of  the  family 
upon  sources  of  income  other  than  the  father's  earnings 
and  the  amount  of  the  father's  earnings  is,  of  course, 
fundamental.  It  has  been  brought  out  clearly  in  at 
least  two  authoritative  investigations  of  wage-earners' 
families,  that  conducted  by  Prof.  R.  C.  Chapin  in 
New  York  City  in  1907  and  that  by  the  British  Board 
of  Trade  in  the  course  of  its  inquiry  into  the  cost  of 
living  in  American  towns. 

Professor    Chapin's    study    of    318    typical    families 
showed  "that  while  the  earnings  of  the  father  are  the 
main  dependence,  the  importance  of  additions  from  the 
earnings   of  others,   and    from   lodgers,    increases   with 
the  higher  incomes."     This  was  also  shown  by  the  Brit- 
ish report  of  a  very  much  larger  number  of   families. 
In  other  words,  not  only  are  the  fathers'  earnings  insuffi-  ; 
cient  in  most  cases,  but  any  increase  in  family  income  \ 
is  more  likely  to  be  due  to  other  sources   of  income 
than   to   his   wages.      The   Chapin   report   showed   that  ; 
less   than  one-half   of  the   315    representative    families 

«J.  C.  Kennedy  and  others,  Wages  and  Family  Budgets  in  the  Chicago 
Stockyards  District,  pp.  64-65. 


268  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

were  able  or  willing  to  get  along  on  the  father's  wages. 
A  family  income  of  above  $700  or  $800  was  found 
to  be  obtainable  as  a  rule  only  by  taking  lodgers  or 
by  putting  mother  and  children  to  work.  The  principal 
facts  in  the  Chapin  report  may  be  summarized  statis- 
tically as  follows  :^^ 

SOURCES  OF  FAMILY  INCOME  IN  318  FAMILIES  IN  THE  CmCAGO 
STOCKYARDS  DISTRICT 
v^  p  Per  cent,  of  family  income  from 


42  V 

' 

> 

u 

"a 

VM 

**•» 

8 

•  2^ 

■M    3 

o 

O 

cn 

in 

2 

Income 
Group 

c  S  « 

a  ^ 
>  ^ 

5?2 

S 

^ 

< 

w 

M 

tJ 

O 

$600-  $699 

63.9 

$650 

94.0 

2.3 

2.8 

0.9 

-00-    799 

50.6 

748 

89.5 

4.8 

5.2 

0.5 

800-    899 

30.1 

846 

84.2 

9.7 

S.5 

0.6 

900-    999 

54.0 

942 

85.0 

11.4 

3.1 

0.5 

1,000-1,099 

25.8 

1,044 

81.7 

11.6 

5.8 

0.9 

The  relation  of  family  income  to  the  proportionate 
importance  of  the  earnings  of  father,  mother  and  chil- 
dren as  sources  of  the  family  fund,  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  size  of  the  family,  and  family  expendi- 
tures, as  indicative  of  the  standard  of  living,  is  of 
utmost  importance.  This  relation  is  discust  more  in 
detail  elsewhere,  but  in  order  to  emphasize  it  in  this 
connection  a  compilation  of  statistics  for  3,215  work- 
ingmen's  families,  secured  by  the  British  Board  of 
Trade,  has  been  made.  In  order  to  employ  statistics 
for  a  homogeneous  group  of  families,  only  native 
(white)  and  British  families  in  the  northern  states  were 
selected  from  the  report.     The  British  families  included 

"  R.  C.  Chapin,  Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,  pp.  55  and  63. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  269 

those  whose  heads  were  born  in  England,  Ireland,  Scot- 
land and  Canada.  Their  standard  of  living  and  eco- 
nomic status  has  been  found,  as  will  be  pointed  out  later 
in  detail,  to  be  similar.  Very  few  of  the  families 
selected  had  boarders,  thus  eliminating  from  considera- 
tion income  from  that  source,  and  confining  the  pic- 
ture to  native  white  and  similar  families  which  main- 
tained a  distinct  and  separate  family  life.  For  the 
most  part  the  heads  of  the  families  were  skilled 
workers. 

The  necessity  for  supplementing  the  earnings  of  the 
father  in  order  to  allow  a  family  income  sufficient  for 
subsistence  and  for  comfort  is  clearly  suggested  by  these 
statistics.  Every  study  of  the  living  conditions  of 
workingmen's  families  in  relation  to  earnings  and  fam- 
ily income  has  proven  this  to  be  true,  but  it  is  per- 
haps more  clearly  and  concretely  illustrated  in  the  table 
on  p.  270,  compiled  from  the  statistics  referred  to. 

From  this  table  the  following  facts  may  be  pointed 
out  as  significant:  (i)  The  size  of  the  family  was 
found  to  be  larger  in  proportion  to  the  incomes  of 
increasing  size,  and  the  increased  size  of  the  family 
was  due  almost  entirely  to  the  increased  number  of 
children.  The  average  number  of  other  persons  living 
at  home,  including  parents,  was,  according  to  income 
groups,  as  follows:  2,  2.08,  2.14,  2.25,  2.19,  2.28, 
2.18.  (2)  The  proportion  of  the  total  income  of  the 
family  contributed  by  the  husband  decreases  after  the 
income  group  of  $24.33-$29.20  (average  $26.10)  is 
reached.     The  proportion   contributed  by   children   be- 


270 


CONDITIONS    OF    LABOR 


FAMILY    INCOME,    SOURCES    OF    FAMILY    INCOME    AND    SIZE    OF 
FAMILY  IN  3,215  FAMILIES,  1909  =«> 

Families  reporting  weekly  income  of 


Average      weekly 
income     .  . 

««- 

u 

V 
•V 

a 
$8.76 

C  0 
«^ 

OS 

$12.42 

■60- 

$13.99 

to 
$21.51 

rt  0 

<«■ 

$26.10 

0 

On  m- 

$31.38 

a  CO 
$36.12 

a 

On 
00 
ro 
<«- 

$50.33 

Average    number 

of  children  liv- 

ing at  home  . . 

1.78 

2.06 

2.46 

2.88 

3.07 

3.63 

3.82 

4.20 

Average    number 

of    persons    at 
home 

3.78 

4.08 

4.54 

5.02 

5.27 

S.82 

6.10 

6.38 

Average      weekly 

income: 

Husband. .     . .' 

8.16 

11.53 

15.16 

17.14 

19.11 

19.14 

19.98 

22.34 

Wife        . .      . . 

.26 

.25 

.29 

.27 

.55 

.20 

.44 

.36 

Children 

.19 

.41 

.91 

2.69 

4.40 

9.32 

11.72 

24.03 

Other  sources 

.14 

.22 

.63 

1.40 

2.04 

2.62 

3.99 

3.60 

comes  an  important  factor  after  an  average  income  of 
$13.99  is  reached,  and  is  actually  more  than  that  con- 
tributed by  the  husband  in  families  with  weekly  income 
of  $50.33.  The  proportion  of  income  contributed  by 
the  wife  is  inconsiderable,  while  that  coming  from  other 
sources  than  earnings  is  usually  less  than  one-tenth  of 
the  total   income. 

The  explanation  of  the  increasing  proportion  of 
income  contributed  by  children  lies,  of  course,  in  their 
increasing  age  and  in  their  employment,  and  to  some 
extent  to  the  increasing  age  of  the  father  of  the  family 
as  the  higher  income  groups  are  reached.  This  may 
be  seen  in  some  additional  figures  which  afford  an  indi- 
go Compiled  from  Digest  of  British  Board  of  Trade  Report  on  the  Cost  of 
Living  in  American  Towns,  Sen.  Doc.  38,  62d  Cong.,  1st  Scss.,  p.  42.  The 
families  included  were  native  white  and  British-born  in  cities  in  northern  states. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  271 

cation  of  the  age  of  the  children  and,  therefore,  of  the 
parents : 

Average  weekly  income  from  children 
of  the   age  of 


Total  Average  Weekly 

16  to    20 

21    years 

Income  of  Family 

years 

or  over 

$8.76 

$0.12 

12.42 

$0.23 

.07 

16.99 

.50 

.21 

21.51 

1.63 

.73 

26.10 

2.94 

1.18 

31.38 

4.98 

3.88 

36.13 

6.54 

4.56 

50.33 

9.75 

13.88 

The  foregoing  statistics  may  be  said  to  picture  a 
wage-earning  family  over  a  period  of  twenty-one  or 
more  years.  The  father's  earnings  increase  consid- 
erably during  the  first  nine  or  ten  years,  but  main- 
tain a  slower  rate  of  increase  afterward.  After  the 
first  nine  or  ten  years  the  children's  earnings  begin 
to  figure,  becoming  an  important  factor  after  16  years 
have  passed  and  reaching  a  position  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  the  father's  earnings  after  20  years  or  more. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  earnings  of  the  children  the 
family  income  would  thus  have  remained  in  the  third 
income  group  shown  in  the  accompanying  table,  at  about 
$19.50  weekly. 

Expenditures  of  Wage-Working  Families 
The  fact  that  in  so  large  a  proportion  of  wage-work- 
ing families  the  earnings  of  the  fathers  are  supplemented 
by  income  from  other  sources  suggests  a  review  of  the 
available  data  relating  to  family  expenditures  as  an  expla- 
nation of  the  apparent  necessity  for  additional  income. 


272  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Several  important  collections  of  family  budgets  of 
wage-earners  have  been  made  in  the  United  States 
in  the  last  fourteen  years.  From  these  the  conclusion 
appears  warrantable  that  the  family  of  average  size  and 
of  earnings  within  the  predominant  ranges  of  income 
disposes  of  its  income  in  approximately  the  following 
manner  at  existing  prices  :'^ 

Per  cent. 

Food       40  to  SO 

Rent       17  to  20 

Clothing        12  to  15 

Fuel  and  lighting       4  to    8 

Sundries       10  to  17 

These    approximations    take    into    consideration    the 

rise   in   prices  of   foods   and   in   rents.     They   indicate 

the    important    fact    that    something    like     four-fifths 

of   the   family   income   must  be  spent    for   subsistence, 

clothing  and   shelter.      For  all   of   the   other   items   of 

expenditure    which    contribute    to    the    health,    comfort 

and  contentment  of  the   family  a  comparatively  small 

proportion  of  the   family  income  is  available.     As  an 

illustration  the  more  detailed  data  obtained    from   an 

intensive  study  by  the  U.   S.   Bureau  of  Labor  of  the 

annual  budgets  of  2,567  workingmen's  families  may  be 

presented.     It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  these  data 

were  gathered  in  1901,  before  the  recent  extraordinary 

^  The  following  reports  and  publications  of  budgetary  investigations  have 
been  consulted,  the  year  in  which  they  were  conducted  being  indicated: 

Chapin— The  Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City  (1907);  More — Wage- 
Earners'  Budgets  (1903-1905);  Byington— Homestead;  A  Mill  Town  (1907- 
1908);  New  York  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correctives  (published  in 
Chapin,  sup.  cit.,  1907);  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor— Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners,  Vol.  xix  (1909);  British  Board  of  Trade— The  Cost  of  Living  in  Ameri- 
can Towns  (1909);  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  on 
Cost  of  Living  (1901);  J.  C.  Kennedy  and  others — Wages  and  Family  Budgets 
in  the  Chicago  Stockyard  District  (1909-1910);  Pittsburgh  Associated  Charities 
report  (1910). 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


^7Z 


increase  in  food  prices  took  place,  and  that  the  aver- 
age annual  family  income  was  $827,  a  sum  somewhat 
higher  than  the  average  annual  income  of  wage-earn- 
ers.^^ The  following  table  is  compiled  from  the  results 
of  this  investigation: 

EXPENDITURES    OF    2,567    WAGE-EARNERS'    FAMILIES    (AVERAGE 

INCOME,  $827;  AVERAGE  SIZE,  5.31  PERSONS;  TOTAL 

AVERAGE  EXPENDITURES,  $768)  IN  1901  =« 

Per  cent,  of  Average  expendi- 

families  having  tures  of   families 

Item  of  Expenditure  expenditures  having  expendi- 

for  tures  for 

Food      100.0  $326.90 

Housing : 

Rent 80.8  122.92 

Mortgage : 

Principal       5.5  145.82 

Interest 7.9  53.73 

Fuel        99.9  32.24 

Lighting 100.0  .    8.15 

Clothing : 

Husband 98.1  34.38 

Wife 98.7  26.37 

Children 88.7  54.15 

Taxes 34.3  16.86 

Insurance : 

Property 31.4  4.89 

Life 65.8  29.55 

Organizations : 

Labor        36.7  10.52 

Other         43.7  11.84 

Religion        80.3  9.49 

Charity 51.0  4.68 

Furniture  and  utensils     . .  84.5  31.13 

Books  and  newspapers     . .  94.7  8.82 

Amusements  and  vacations  70.3  17.44 

Intoxicating  liquors  . .     . .  50.7  24.53 

Tobacco        79.2  13.80 

Sickness  and  death  . .     . .  76.7  26.78 

Other  purposes 98.9  45.61 

**  The  Bureau  of  Labor  considered  these  2,567  families  fairly  representative 
of  the  25,440  families  for  which  less  detailed  information  was  obtained.  The 
average  annual  family  income  of  the  larger  group  was  $750. 

^  Compiled  from  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of 
Labor. 


274  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  actual  situation  as  found  to  exist  in  1901  by  the 
Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  among  11,156  "normal""* 
families  in  the  principal  industries  and  occupations 
having  different  ranges  of  annual  income,  showed 
that  there  were  important  variations  in  the  proportions 
spent  for  the  different  items  according  to  size  of  annual 
income,  and  suggest  in  a  general  way  the  inadequacy 
of  incomes  below  certain  ranges.  It  was  found  that 
the  higher  the  income  the  lower  were  the  proportions 
spent  for  food  and  fuel,  the  higher  were  the  proportions 
spent  for  clothing  and  sundries,  while  the  proportion 
spent  for  lighting  was  practically  the  same  in  families 
earning  all  ranges  of  income.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind 
that  since  this  investigation  was  made  the  prices  of 
food  have  increased  to  a  large  extent,  and  of  some  of 
the  other  items  to  a  lesser  extent,  so  that  the  percent- 
age spent  for  food — as  later  local  budgetary  studies 
have  shown — has  appreciably  increased.  The  Bureau 
of  Labor's  1901  investigation  affords,  however,  the 
most  comprehensive  data,  which  are  summarized  in 
the  tabulation  at  the  top  of  p.  275. 

Similar  conclusions  were  indicated  by  the  later  inves- 
tigation conducted  in  28  American  industrial  localities 
by  the  British  Board  of  Trade.  Weekly  budgets  of 
several  thousand  wage-earners'  families  were  obtained, 
and  the  data  relating  to  expenditures  for  certain  pur- 
poses were  tabulated  according  to  family  incomes  as 
follows  (see  table  at  bottom  of  p.  275)  : 

^  By  "normal"  families  is  meant  those  in  which  there  is  a  wage-earninp 
father,  a  wife,  and  three  children  under  14  years  of  age,  and  no  servants  oi 
dependents. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


275 


PER   CENT.   OF  EXPENDITURE   FOR  VARIOUS   PURPOSES   IN    11,156 
NORMAL  FAMILIES,  BY  CLASSIFIED  INCOME 


Classified  Income 

4; 

■3 

3 

5 

60 

T3 

0 

0 

3 
0 

1- 

5 

0 

IX 

fe 

Ij 

Pm 

U 

w 

H 

Under 

$200   .  . 

.    16.93 

6.69 

1.27 

50.85 

8.68 

15.58 

100.00 

$200 

01- 

under 

$300      . 

.   18.02 

6.09 

1.13 

47.33 

8.66 

18.77 

100.00 

300 

or 

under 

400      . 

.    18.69 

5.97 

1.14 

48.09 

10.02 

16.09 

100.00 

400 

or 

under 

500      . 

.    18.57 

5.54 

1.12 

46.88 

11.39 

16.50 

100.00 

500 

or 

under 

600      . 

.    18.43 

5.09 

1.12 

46.16 

11.98 

17.22 

100.00 

600 

or 

under 

700      . 

.    18.48 

4.65 

1.12 

43.48 

12.88 

19.39 

100.00 

700 

or 

under 

800      . 

.    18.17 

4.14 

1.12 

41.44 

13.50 

21.63 

100.00 

800 

or 

under 

900      . 

.    17.07 

3.87 

1.10 

41.37 

13.57 

23.02 

100.00 

900 

or 

under 

1,000      . 

.    17.58 

3.85 

1.11 

39.90 

14.35 

23.21 

100.00 

1,000 

or 

under 

1,100      . 

.    17.53 

3.77 

1.16 

38.79 

15.06 

23.69 

100.00 

1,100 

or 

under 

1,200      . 

.    16.59 

3.63 

1.08 

37.68 

14.89 

26.13 

100.00 

1,200 

or 
tal 

over 

.    17.40 

3.85 
4.57 

1.18 
1.12 

36.45 
43.13 

15.72 
12.95 

25.40 
20.11 

100.00 

To 

.    18.12 

100.00 

PER  CENT.  OF  TOTAL  FAMILY  INCOME  EXPENDED  FOR  MEAT,  ALL 

FOOD,  RENT,  AND  FOR  FOOD  AND  RENT,  IN  3,215 

FAMILIES   IN    1909  25 

Families  Reporting  Weekly  Incomes  of 


ro 

3 

3 

s 

3 

t^ 

•a 

TS 

Ti 

o\ 

•a 

c 

c 

C 

«■ 

c  0 

rt  t>^ 

M  ro 

rt  0 

n  \o 

■^ 

oi 

Items  of 

Expenditures 

^2; 
•^S- 

§2 

0\  ff>- 

D 

Ox 

m- 

m- 

i^ 

V5- 

Meat 

12.95 

13.49 

12.22 

11.36 

10.50 

All  food     .  .      . . 

51.39 

47.62 

44.15 

41.19 

37.88 

Rent 

19.53 

17.74 

16.66 

15.34, 

14.04 

Food   and    rent.  . 

70.92 

65.36 

66.81 

56.53 

51.82 

9.32  10.23  9.2Z 

33.53  34.49  28.40 

12.01  12.04  9.91 

47.59  46.53  38.31 

The  above  statistics  showed  that  in  the  famihes  for 
which  data  were  obtained:  (i)  the  percentage  of  income 
spent  for  rent  maintains  a  steady  decrease  as  the  income 
increases;  (2)  the  percentage  of  income  spent  for  all 
food  maintains  a  steady  increase  until  the  average 
weekly   income   of   $38.93    is   reached,    when    it   drops 

2^  Compiled  from  Digest  of  British  Board  of  Trade  Report  on  the  Cost  of 
Living  in  American  Towns,  Sen.  Doc.  38,  62d  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  p.  44.  The 
families  included  were  native  white  and  British-born  in  cities  in  northern  states. 


2/6  CONDITIONS    OF   LTABOR 

more  sharply;  (3)  the  percentage  of  income  spent  for 
meats,  on  the  other  hand,  tends  to  decrease  much  more 
slowly  than  the  percentage  of  income  spent  for  rent 
and  all  foods.  In  fact,  it  actually  shows  an  increase 
from  the  first  to  the  second  income  group.  The  per 
cent,  of  income  spent  for  all  food  shows  a  drop  of 
23  per  cent,  in  the  highest  income  group,  as  compared 
with  the  lowest,  while  the  figures  for  per  cent,  spent 
for  meats  show  a  drop  of  only  3.7  per  cent.'® 

The  importance  of  the  earnings  of  children  in  the 
3,215  wage-earning  families  represented  in  the  above 
data  is  a  significant  fact  (see  table  on  p.  270).  Taken 
into  consideration  with  the  expenditures  for  food,  and 
particularly  for  meat,  the  children's  earnings  may  be 
said  to  be  almost  the  sole  means  by  which  families 
having  a  weekly  income  of  over  $19  are  able  to  raise 
their  standard  of  diet  in  any  considerable  degree.  The 
same  is  true,  of  course,  for  the  other  elements  that 
make  up  their  standard  of  living  in  general. 

These  proportions  have  been  found  to  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  race,  size  and  locality  of  the  family  as  well 
as  according  to  income.  The  proportion  spent  for 
food  was  found  to  be  over  53  per  cent,  for  the  newer 
immigrant  families  of  unskilled  stockyard  workers,  for 
example,  and  less  than  40  per  cent,  for  families  of 
highly  skilled,  better-paid  native  and  older  immigrant 
families.    The  results  of  various  budgetary  studies  made 

^'Tlie  data  bearing  on  the  relation  of  family  income  to  the  character  of  diet 
of  waRC-working  families  and  on  geographical  and  other  factors  having  apparent 
effects  on  their  diet,  have  been  summarized  in  a  paper  on  "The  Prevalence  of 
Pellagra — Its  Possible  Relation  to  the  Rise  in  Cost  of  Food,"  by  Edgar  Syden- 
Strieker,  U.  S.  Public  Health  Reports,  Reprint  No.  308. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  277 

in  the  United  States  show  variations  in  the  relation 
of  food  expenditures  to  total  family  expenditures  as 
follows : 

The  larger  the  size  of  the  family,  the  income  remain- 
ing constant,  the  greater  is  the  per  cent,  spent  for  food. 
The  per  cent,  expended  for  fuel  and  light  remains 
without  change,  while  comparatively  smaller  percentage 
for  clothing,  sundries  and  rent  are  shown.  The  larger 
the  size  of  the  family,  the  smaller  is  the  per  cent, 
of  savings.  It  should  be  noted  that  taking  wage- 
earners'  families  grouped  according  to  the  number 
of  persons  per  family,  the  income  increases  somewhat 
in  proportion  to  the  greater  size  of  the  family.  The 
increased  income,  however,  is  due  to  the  earnings  of 
the  husband  up  to  only  a  certain  point;  beyond  that 
point  the  earnings  of  the  children  become  more  and 
more  important,  contributing  practically  the  entire  in- 
crease of  income.  The  earnings  of  the  children  are 
thus  the  means  by  which  the  family  is  able  to  main- 
tain or  better  its  standard  of  living,  as  illustrated  by  cer- 
tain facts  as  to  its  diet. 

While  the  data  relating  to  racial  or  nationality  differ- 
ences are  of  such  nature  as  to  require  extreme  caution 
in  drawing  conclusions,  it  seems  to  be  clearly  indicated 
that  the  native-born  white  American  families  spend 
a  slightly  smaller  proportion  for  food  than  do  the  for- 
eign families  of  the  older  immigrant  races  (i.e.,  Scotch, 
Irish,  English,  German,  etc.),  and  a  considerably  smaller 
proportion  than  the  foreign  families  of  the  newer  immi- 
grant nationalities  (i.e.,  Italian,  Austro-Hungarian,  Rus- 


278  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

sian,  etc.).  The  highest  percentage  of  total  expenditures 
spent  on  food  by  the  newer  immigrants  is  partly  due 
to  their  low  incomes,  but  even  when  they  are  com- 
pared with  native  white  and  older  immigrant  families 
in  similar  income  groups,  the  same  tendency  is  shown. 
The  large  proportion  of  the  income  of  newer  immi- 
grants saved  or  sent  abroad,  and  their  small  expendi- 
tures for  those  things  that  are  considered  necessities 
according  to  the  American  standard  of  living,  must 
also  be  taken  into  consideration.  Negro  wage-earners' 
families  in  the  South  were  found  to  have  the  smallest 
food  expenditures,  in  proportion  to  income,  of  all  races. 
Food  prices  show  a  general  tendency  to  be  higher  in 
the  smaller  industrial  localities  than  in  the  larger  popu- 
lation centers,"  while  they  are  found  to  be  on  a  gen- 
erally higher  level  in  New  England  and  Southern  than 
in  Central  and  Middle  West  industrial  localities."^  These 
conditions,  of  course,  have  an  effect  on  the  make-up  of 
the  family  budget  of  the  wage-workers. 

Expenditures  for  rent  have  been  found  to  vary  not 
only  according  to  the  income  of  the  family,  but  also 
according  to  locality  and  race.  Racial  habits  and 
standards  of  living  account  for  variations  in  expendi- 
tures for  rent  just  as  in  the  case  of  expenditures  for 
food.     According  to  the   findings  of  the   Immigration 

*'  Taking  prices  in  New  York  City  as  100,  quotations  of  only  predominant 
food  consumed  by  wage-earners  being  used,  the  British  Board  of  Trade  found 
that  the  mean  index  was  102  and  103  for  localities  under  250,000  population 
and  96  and  98  for  centers  with  over  250,000.     Sup.  cit.,  p.  35. 

**  A  similar  index  number  constructed  by  the  same  authority  quoted  above 
shows  that  food  prices  in  New  York  City  and  other  Eastern  cities  was  100,  New 
England  and  Southern  localities  103,  and  Central  and  Middle  West  localities  ^7 
and  95,  respectively. 


IN   AMERICAN    INDUSTRIES 


279 


Commission,  a  higher  standard  of  Hving  and  a  smaller 
degree  of  congestion  in  households  the  heads  of  which 
were  born  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  and 
Northern  Europe,  as  compared  with  those  of  Southern 
and  Eastern  Europe,  were  clearly  shown  by  the  average 
rent  payments  monthly  per  capita  according  to  race. 
For  example : 


NATIVE    AND    OLDER    IMMI- 
GRANT  GROUP 

Monthly   per  capita 
payment   for   rent 
Race 
Native   (white)      .  .  $2.58 

English 2.34 

German 1.98 

Irish         1.97 

Scotch      2.41 

Swedish 7.38 


NEWER    IMMIGRANT 
GROUP 


Race 
Bulgarian 
Croatian 
Macedonian 
Servian    , . 
Slovak 


Monthly   per   capita 
payment  for  rent 


$0.97 

1.09 

.78 

1.03 

1.18 


Rent  expenditures  in  over  13,000  households  studied 
by  agents  of  the  Immigration  Commission  averaged 
$8.96  per  apartment  or  house  per  month,  the  average  for 
native-born  (white)  families  being  $11.55  and  for  for- 
eign-born $8.72.  Anthracite  coal  miners  paid  $7.84; 
bituminous  coal  miners,  $6.54;  iron  and  steel  workers, 
$7.51;  copper  mining  and  smelting  workers,  $6.21;  cot- 
ton mill  workers,  $8.68;  slaughtering  and  meat-packing 
workers,  $8.90,  and  glass  workers,  $8.91.  Clothing 
workers,  on  the  other  hand,  paid  $11.94;  collar  and  cuff 
workers,  $11.26;  shoe  workers,  $12.63.  These  differ- 
ences exist  not  only  because  of  the  predominance  of 
certain  races  in  different  industries,  but  because  of  the 
difference  in  the  income  of  workers  according  to  indus- 
try, and  of  the   fact  that  rents  are  cheaper  in  certain 


28o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

localities  than  in  others.  The  smaller  the  industrial 
locality,  as  a  general  rule,  the  lower  are  rents.^" 

Taking  the  results  of  other  investigations  of  the  liv- 
ing conditions  of  wage-working  families  into  considera- 
tion, the  general  statement  appears  warranted  that  the 
average  wage-earner's  household  pays  between  $9  and 
$10  a  month  for  that  type  and  size  of  house  or  apart- 
ment which  seems  to  be  predominant — the  four-  or  five- 
room  dwelling  or  apartment — or  a  housing  expenditure 
of  from  $100  to  $120  a  year.^" 

The  rise  in  the  cost  of  living  can  not  have  failed  to 
have  a  most  serious  effect  upon  families  whose  incomes 
have  not  kept  pace  with  the  advance  in  prices.  Even 
if  it  should  be  true  that  wages  have  kept  pace  and  that 
the  loss  in  working  time  is  no  greater  than  it  was  fif- 
teen years  ago,  the  large  proportion  of  wage-earners 
who  are  in  the  lower  levels  of  income  are  much  harder 
prest.  A  careful  examination  of  all  the  available 
information  gathered  in  the  period  1901-1914  warrants 
the  significant  conclusion  that  the  more  recent  budget- 
ary studies  show  a  higher  percentage  of  income  spent 
for  food  than  do  the  earlier  studies  in  families  in  all 
ranges  of  annual   income  up   to  $900  or  $1,000.      In 

29  Taking  rents  of  working-class  homes  in  New  York  as  100,  the  British 
Board  of  Trade  found  the  following  ratio:  New  York,  100;  cities  having  over 
500,000  population,  78;  250,000  to  500,000,  78;  100,000  to  250,000,  69;  under 
100,000,  64.     Sup.  cit.,   p.   26. 

30  There  is  an  unusual  degree  of  unanimity  among  investigators  on  the  cost 
of  rent.  For  example,  the  Immigration  Commission's  statistics  for  over  27,000 
representative  households  in  industrial  communities  and  in  large  cities  showed 
that  the  cost  per  room  per  annum  was  slightly  over  $30.  The  l?ritish  Board 
of  Trade's  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  living  in  American  towns  and  cities  showed 
that  the  rent  per  room  per  annum  from  rent  lists  of  90,000  working-class  dwell- 
ings and  paid  hy  7,616  families  whose  budgets  were  obtained,  was  slightly  over 
$33.  These  two  investigations  were  made  in  1909.  Other  special  investigations 
strongly  corroborate  these  conclusions. 


IN   ^AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  281 

other  words,  the  advance  of  over  60  per  cent,  in  the 
average  of  retail  prices  of  the  principal  articles  of  food 
constituting  the  diet  of  the  workingman's  family  has 
resulted:  (i)  In  a  larger  proportion  of  family  income 
being  spent  for  food  and  relatively  less  proportions 
being  spent  for  fuel,  light,  clothing  and  sundries,  and 
possibly  for  rent,  altho  rents  have  also  increased,  the 
increase  in  percentage  for  food  being  from  about  43  to 
50;  (2)  in  forcing  the  point  of  minimum  subsistence 
much  higher  in  the  scale  of  incomes,  from  about  $600  or 
$700  in  1 90 1  to  $800  or  $900  to-day. 

Since  the  proportion  of  income  spent  for  food  is 
greater  in  large  families  than  in  small  families  (being 
nearly  17  per  cent,  greater  in  the  average  family  with 
five  children  than  in  the  family  with  one  child ),^^  the 
increase  in  food  prices  bears  most  heavily  upon  the 
workingman  who  has  several  children. 

*^  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  p.  98. 


282  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


VII 

LIVING  CONDITIONS 

The  standard  of  living  which  the  wage-working  fam- 
ily is  able  to  maintain  is  the  true  measure  of  the  income 
it  receives.  The  familiar  distinction  between  "money" 
wages  and  "real"  wages  holds  true,  of  course,  for  the 
family  wage.  The  statistics  of  incomes  and  expendi- 
tures of  wage-working  families,  reviewed  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  have  perhaps  suggested  to  the  reader  the 
extent  to  which  these  families  are  above  or  below  the 
line  of  bankruptcy;  they  do  not,  however,  depict  the 
conditions  under  which  wage-working  families  live,  nor 
do  they  permit  an  accurate  conception  of  the  adequacy 
of  wages  and  incomes  of  industrial  workers  to  maintain 
decent  and  healthful  standards  of  living,  or  to  provide 
for  comforts,  educational  and  recreational  facilities,  or 
luxuries.  In  this  chapter  the  attempt  is  made  to  present 
in  summary  form  some  of  the  salient  facts  relating  to 
living  conditions  that  have  been  collected  by  the  more 
comprehensive  investigations  of  recent  years.  In  a  sub- 
sequent chapter  the  adequacy  of  wages  to  maintain 
those  conditions  which  have  been  fairly  well  agreed  upon 
by  various  authorities  and  students  as  necessary  and 
proper  for  decency,  health,  and  a  minimum  of  comfort, 
will  be  discust. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES.  283 

It  is  impossible,  of  course,  to  present  in  digested 
form  the  large  amount  of  descriptive  literature  relat- 
ing to  living  conditions  of  wage-workers  in  the  United 
States  which  has  appeared  in  the  last  few  years.  Those 
conditions,  however,  which  have  been  reduced  to  sta- 
tistical form  are  capable  of  such  presentation.  From 
these  have  been  selected  the  conditions  which  entail 
tile  greatest  expenditure  by  wage-working  families, 
such  as  diet  and  housing,  and  certain  other  conditions 
which  are  usually  regarded  as  indicative  of  the  standard 
of  living,  such  as  home  owning,  living  arrangements, 
and  general  community  environment. 

The  Diet  of  Wage-Working  Families 

A  bare  statement  of  the  predominant  articles  com- 
posing the  diet  of  wage-working  families  will,  of  course, 
not  reveal  any  essential  differences  between  their  diet 
and  the  diet  of  families  of  other  groups  of  the  popula- 
tion. Thus  an  examination  of  the  data  afforded  by 
several  intensive  budgetary  studies  of  wage-working 
families  merely  indicates  that  their  diet  includes  per- 
haps a  relatively  greater  amount  of  the  essential  or 
necessary  articles  of  food  and  less  of  those  articles 
ordinarily  classed  as  "luxuries."  These  studies  have 
shown  that  approximately  70  or  75  per  cent,  of  the  diet 
of  the  average  wage-earner's  family  is  composed  of  the 
following  (from  the  standpoint  of  both  cost  and 
quantity)  : 

Fresh  beef,  fresh  pork,  ham,  eggs,  milk,  peas  and  beans, 
comprising  the  principal  protein   foods;  salt  pork  and 


284  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

bacon,  butter  and  lard,  comprising  the  principal  fatty- 
foods;  wheat  flour,  baker's  bread  (wheaten),  cornmeal, 
Irish  potatoes,  sweet  potatoes,  sugar,  molasses  and  syrup, 
canned  and  green  vegetables  (other  than  beans  and  peas), 
and  fruits,  comprising  the  principal  starch  foods. ^ 

The  impossibility  of  making  a  statement  of  the  "aver- 
age" diet  of  workingmen's  families  is  apparent  when 
it  is  remembered  that  important  variations  in  the  char- 
acter, variety  and  quantity  of  food  arise  from  differ- 
ences in  race,  income,  location  and  size  of  family.  Per- 
haps the  simplest  way  of  summarizing  the  many  de- 
tailed descriptions  is  to  describe  the  diet  of  one  group 
of  families  and  to  note  the  principal  variations  from 
that  type. 

The  intensive  study  of  food  expenditures  and  con- 
sumption among  wage-earners'  families  made  by  the 
British  Board  of  Trade  in  its  inquiry  into  cost  of  living 
in  American  towns  in  1909  affords  the  most  detailed, 
as  well  as  the  most  comprehensive,  data.  The  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  situation  in  one  group  of  families 

» The  most  extensive  and  detailed  budgetary  study  in  the  last  few  years  in 
the  United  States,  which  was  made  by  the  British  Board  of  Trade  in  1909 
shows  that  the  per  cent,  of  family  income  spent  for  the  pnnc.pa  articles  ot 
food,  taking  all  families  together,  was  as  follows:  Meats,  12  to  16;  eggs,  ^; 
milk,  2  5;  butter,  3.5;  lard,  1.2;  flour,  2.5;  bread,  2;  potatoes,  1.4;  green  vege- 
tables 2  5-  fruit,  2;  coffee,  1.5.  Of  the  expenditures  for  meat,  50  per  cent,  was 
spent 'for  beef.  The  Bureau  of  Labor  1901  budgets  show  much  the  same  propor- 
tion but  expenditures  for  beef  were  40  per  cent,  of  the  total  spent  for  meats. 
Other  budgetary  studies,  altho  stating  results  in  less  detail,  tend  to  corroborate 
this  general  statement.  The  following  is  the  list  of  15  principal  articles  of 
food  which  has  been  used  by  the  Department  of  Labor  as  the  basis  for  noting 
price  changes:  Fresh  beef  (sirloin  steak,  round  steak,  rib  roast);  fresh  hog 
products  (pork  chops) ;  salt  hog  products  (bacon,  smoked;  ham,  smoked) ;  poultry 
(hens);  eggs,  strictly  fresh;  milk,  fresh;  butter,  creamery;  lard,  pure;  sugar, 
granulated;  flour  and  meal  (wheat  and  corn  flour);  potatoes  (Irish). 

The  18th  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  which  contained 
the  results  of  the  budgetary  investigation  in  1901,  showed  that  the  15  articles  of 
food  named  above  represented  approximately  two-thirds  (63.97)  per  cent,  ot 
the  average  expenditure  for  food  in  workingmen's  families  in  that  year. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  285 

— native  (white)  and  British-born.  The  data  were 
obtained  from  532  famiHes  carefully  selected  as  repre- 
sentative. These  families  had  weekly  incomes  ranging 
from  $9.73  to  $14.60,  averaging  $12.42,  and  are  typi- 
cal from  the  point  of  view  of  income.  The  average 
number  of  persons  per  family  were  4.08,  including 
an  average  of  2.06  children  living  at  home.  It  should 
be  remembered,  of  course,  that  the  average  family  in 
this  group  was  not  found  to  consume  all  of  these  arti- 
cles of  diet  in  a  single  week.  The  list  merely  indicates 
the  relative  importance  of  each  article  in  the  diets  of 
all  families  in  the  group.     (See  p.  286.) 

With  these  statements  as  to  predominant  foods  and 
this  comparative  description  of  a  large  group  of  repre- 
sentative families  of  a  given  race,  location,  size  and 
income  in  mind,  it  is  important  to  note  some  specific 
variations  that  are  shown  by  recent  budgetary  studies. 
These  variations  are  according  to  geographic  location 
in  the  United  States,  to  racial  group,  and  to  income. 
There  is  evidence  also  that  the  extraordinarily  rapid 
rise  in  the  prices  of  certain  foods  has  caused  changes 
in  the  diet  of  certain  groups  of  families." 

I.  The  principal  differences  in  diet  of  wage-earners' 
families  according  to  geographical  divisions  may  be  briefly 
summed  up  as  follows : 

Beef,  milk,  bread  and  Irish  potatoes  are  import- 
ant articles  of  diet  in  wage-earners'  families  in 
the  North  Atlantic  States  and  Western  States.     Con- 

*  See  pp.  290  and  335. 


286 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


Articles  of  Food 

Bread,  wheat       lbs. 

Bread,  rye 

Bread,  other        

Flour,  wheat        

Flour,  rye 

Flour,  buckwheat  and  other   . .      . .    " 

Corn   and  cornmeal 

Cakes,  crackers  and  doughnuts       . .    " 

Rolls,  buns  and  biscuits 

Macaroni  and  spaghetti 

Rice,  barley  and  sago       

Oatmeal  and  breakfast  cereals 

Potatoes,  Irish 

Potatoes,  sweet 

Dried  peas  and  beans       

Sweet  corn 

Green  vegetables,  etc 

Canned  vegetables,  etc 

Beef,  corned  and  fresh 

Mutton  and  lamb       

Pork  (fresh  and  salt)        

Bacon,  ham  brawn 

Veal       " 

Sausage        

Poultry  

Fish       " 

Lard,   suet,   dripping 

Butter " 

Oleomargarine 

Olive    oil      pints 

Cheese '"S. 

Milk,  fresh quarts 

Milk,  condensed         lbs. 

Eggs       number 

Tea        lbs. 

Coffee 

Cocoa  and  chocolate 

Sugar    

Molasses  and  syrup pints 

Vinegar,   pickles  and  condiments  . . 

Fruits  and  jams 

Other   items 

Meals  away  from  home 

Total     $5.91 


Amount 

consumed 

Expenditure 

per  week 

per  week 

6.53 

$0.35 

.96 

.04 

.05 

a 

7.94 

.30 

.04 

a 

.26 

.01 

.68 

.02 

1.57 

.14 

1.37 

.09 

.42 

.03 

.67 

.05 

.96 

.06 

17.43 

.34 

.43 

.01 

1.24 

.07 

.03 

.26 

.09 

S.09 

.75 

.69 

.11 

1.S5 

.28 

1.26 

.21 

.46 

.07 

.51 

.06 

.30 

.05 

1.13 

.11 

1.16 

.15 

1.35 

.41 

.09 

.02 

.03 

.01 

.31 

.05 

3.75 

.33 

.71 

.08 

14.49 

.33 

.27 

.12 

.77 

.17 

.04 

.01 

3.78 

.21 

.33 

.03 

.03 

.18 

.02 

.07 

a  Less  than  one  cent. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  287 

trasted  with  these  are  flour,  meal,  sah  hog  products, 
lard  and  sweet  potatoes  in  the  Southern  States.  Fish 
is  an  important  article  in  the  diet  of  wage-earners 
in  the  North  Atlantic  States,  and  fresh  hog  prod- 
ucts in  Northern  and  Central  States.  Using  groups 
of  food  as  the  basis,  it  has  been  found  that  the  con- 
sumption of  lean  meats  and  other  protein  foods  is  high- 
est in  the  Northern  States,  and  of  fats  and  cereals  in 
the  Southern  States,  while  a  more  evenly  balanced  diet 
of  all  three  groups  of  food  is  found  in  the  Central  and 
Western  States. 

2.  The  principal  racial  differences  in  diet  are  seen 
between  two  general  groups  of  wage-earners:  (a)  the 
natives  (white)  and  older  immigrants  (from  Great  Bri- 
tain and  northern  Europe),  and  (b)  the  newer  immi- 
grants (from  southern  and  eastern  Europe). 

There  is  a  marked  similarit3%  generally  speaking,  in 
the  diets  of  native  American  families  and  of  English, 
Irish,  Scotch,  Welsh  and  German  families.  On  the 
other  hand,  diets  of  native  white  families  and  of 
newer  immigrant  families  (Italian,  Russian  and  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian)  exhibit  marked  differences  in  the  fol- 
lowing respects:  (a)  The  Russians  and  Austro-Hun- 
garians  are  large  consumers  of  meats  and  of  pro- 
tein foods  in  general,  and  smaller  consumers  of  fats 
and  cereals  or  starchy  foods  than  native  white  families ; 
(b)  the  Italians  are  smaller  consumers  of  meats  and 
larger  consumers  of  cereals  or  starchy  foods  than  native 
white  families.     Apparently  their  consumption  of  fats 


288  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

is  very  similar  in  quantity  to  that  of  native  white 
families. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  all  newer  immigrants 
spend  a  greater  proportion  of  their  total  expenditures 
for  food  than  do  the  native  wage-earners.  This  seems 
to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  their  standard  of  living  is 
less  subject  to  the  demands  created  by  desires  other 
than  for  food.  In  a  sense,  their  standard  is  more  ele- 
mental. They  are  more  free  to  satisfy  their  natural, 
physical  wants  and  less  restricted  than  native  wage- 
earners  by  the  pressure  of  other  wants  upon  their 
income. 

In  the  selection  of  their  diet  it  seems  to  be  the  con- 
sensus of  observations  that  the  newer  immigrant  has 
the  advantage  over  the  native  w^age-earners.  In  the 
first  place,  his  taste  is  less  affected  by  the  American 
standards  of  variety,  just  as  the  whole  of  his  desire  is 
less  restricted.  He  does  not  demand  as  expensive  a 
quality  of  food,  nor  does  he  desire  as  great  a  variety. 
He  has  been  accustomed  to  cheap,  coarse  food.  In 
the  second  place,  his  experience  and  his  habits  of  con- 
sumption enable  him  to  select  the  cheapest  kinds  of  the 
foods  he  uses  and  to  make  the  most  of  them.  What 
effect  continued  residence  in  the  United  States  has 
upon  the  diet  of  the  immigrant  has  not  been  made 
the  subject  of  any  study  so  far.  The  fact  that  the 
diet  of  older  immigrant  races,  the  great  majority  of 
which  have  been  in  this  country  a  long  time,  is  so 
similar  to  the  diet  of  natives,  would  indicate  a  ten- 
dency  for  the   immigrants'   diet  to  conform  to  that  of 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  289 

the  natives.  The  children  of  newer  immigrant  workers 
tend  to  Iiave  very  much  the  same  diet  and  general 
living  standard  as  other  natives. 

In  the  course  of  a  community  study  of  Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania,  where  several  thousand  newer  immigrants 
were  employed  as  steel  workers,  data  as  to  the  kinds 
of  food  consumed  in  a  number  of  families  and  board- 
ing-house groups  were  secured.  Magyars  and  Poles 
were  noticeable  for  their  consumption  of  cheap  beef 
and  pork,  bread  and  coffee.  The  Slovaks  and  Croa- 
tians  had  more  vegetables  in  their  diet.  Italians  con- 
sumed comparatively  small  quantities  of  meat,  but 
showed  their  distinctive  habits  of  consuming  large  quan- 
tities of  vegetables,  spaghetti,  bread  and  olive  oil.  The 
Austro-Hungarian  workers,  as  a  whole,  in  spite  of 
high  meat  prices,  made  meat  one  of  their  chief  articles 
of  diet.  Their  standard  of  living  in  other  respects  was 
low,  comforts  and  even  ordinary  provisions  for  de- 
cency were  frequently  lacking,  and  congested  housing 
conditions  were  often  marked,  but  sacrifices  were  made 
in  order  to  satisfy  their  appetite  for  meat.  Often,  in 
reply  to  questions,  their  comment  was  that  they  had 
to  eat  meat  in  order  to  work. 

3.  Of  more  importance  are  the  variations  in  diet 
that  are  found  in  wage-earners'  families  having  dif- 
ferent incomes  and,  therefore,  different  purchasing  abili- 
ties. A  careful  examination  of  all  the  authoritative 
budgetary  data  indicates:  First,  the  per  capita  or  actual 
consumption  of  food  shows  two  kinds  of  variations 
where  an  increasing  range  of  income  is  considered,  z'ia: 


290  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

in  variety  and  quantity.  Second,  the  greater  the  income 
the  greater  the  variety  of  foods.  This  is  seen  in  fami- 
lies of  even  low  incomes,  where  a  slight  increase  en- 
ables them  to  substitute  bought  bread  and  cakes,  rolls, 
etc.,  for  home-made  bread.  Third,  up  to  a  certain 
limit,  the  greater  the  income  the  greater  the  quantity. 
In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  note:  (a)  that  the 
greatest  increase  in  quantity  occurs  in  the  lower  income 
groups  as  the  income  rises.  In  other  words,  below  a 
certain  limit  of  income  ($700  or  $800  a  year  per 
family)  the  quantity  of  food  purchaseable  is  apparently 
insufficient  to  satisfy  physical  wants;  above  that  limit 
of  income,  physical  needs  may  be  satisfied  as  to  actual 
quantity,  but  the  desire  for  variety  continues  to  increase 
the  amount,  but  at  a  less  rapid  rate,  at  least  a  portion  of 
which  is  not  actually  consumed  but  goes  to  waste;  (b) 
that  the  main  increase  in  quantity  of  food  of  fami- 
lies of  low  incomes  is  in  response  to  the  demand  for 
meats.  As  corollaries,  it  seems  proper  to  suggest  that 
the  quantity  of  meat  purchaseable  by  families  having 
the  lower  incomes  is  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  physical 
craving  of  the  individual  and  that  the  prices  of  meat 
prevailing  at  the  time  the  data  was  obtained  prevented 
the  individuals  in  these  classes  of  families  from  having 
a  balanced  ration.  Since  the  time  at  which  these 
budgetary  investigations  were  made  (1907  and  1909) 
the  prices  of  meats  have  shown  considerable  advances. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  291 

Housing  Conditions 

No  general  statement  of  the  "typical"  dwellings  of 
wage-earners  can  be  made  because  of  the  lack  of  uni- 
formity in  type  and  of  the  large  variety  of  types  of 
houses  in  different  localities.  It  seems  to  be  true,  how- 
ever, that  the  predominant  type  of  dwelling  occupied 
by  wage-earners  in  industrial  communities  is  the  single- 
family  house.^ 

The  single- family  house  is  more  uniformly  the  type 
in  Southern  localities,  altho  it  is  general  in  numerous 
small  and  middle-size  communities  in  the  East  and 
Middle  West.  Even  in  some  large  cities,  such  as  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  Pittsburgh  and  Detroit,  the  single- 
family  house,  it  has  been  found,  is  distinctly  predomi- 
nant, and  is  largely  represented  in  Cleveland,  Milwau- 
kee, Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul.  In  the  New  England 
industrial  localities  three-family  houses  are  most  com- 
mon, while  the  two-family  house  is  typical  also  of  New 
England  towns  and  of  Brooklyn,  Newark,  Paterson, 
Cleveland,  Pittsburgh,  Milwaukee,  Duluth,  Minneapolis, 
St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis.  The  tenement  housing  from 
four  to  a  dozen  or  twenty  or  more  families  is  typical 
of  New  York  and  Chicago,  altho  it  is  to  be  found 
in  almost  every  large  city  and  frequently  in  the  smaller 
industrial  centers.  In  isolated  mining  and  industrial 
communities  the  cheap  "shack"  of  one  or  two  rooms  is 
a  familiar  type. 

The  wage-earner's  family  is  more  likely  to  be  found 

'This  generalization  is  based  upon  the  British  Board  of  Trade's  data  for 
90,000  working-class  dwellings  in  27  American  cities  and  towns  and  upon  the 
result  of  numerous  surveys  and  investigations. 


292  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

living  in  a  four-room  apartment  or  house  than  in  an 
apartment  or  house  of  another  size,  according  to  the 
most  comprehensive  data.^ 

The  evidence  seems  to  indicate  conclusively  that  the 
size  of  the  apartment  or  house  is  smaller  in  the  large 
city  than  in  the  purely  industrial  community.  The 
native  (w^hite)  and  older  immigrant  wage-earner's  fam- 
ily in  the  latter  type  of  locality  occupies  usually  a  five- 
or  six-room  house,  while  the  newer  immigrant  house- 
hold is  most  frequently  found  in  a  three-  or  four-room 
house  or  apartment. 

The  significance  of  these  facts  as  to  the  type  and 
size  of  house  or  apartment  which  the  wage-earner's 
family  occupies  is  that,  taking  the  normal  family  of 
five  persons — husband,  wife  and  three  children — as  a 
natural  standard,  the  typical  dwelling  occupied  by  it 
is  none  too  large.  A  smaller  house  would  be  a  dis- 
tinct deprivation  of  facilities  not  simply  for  ordinary 
comfort,  but  in  many  cases  for  health  and  decency.  It 
is  of  the  utmost  importance,  therefore,  to  take  into 
consideration  also  the  conditions  of  congestion  and 
living  arrangements  which  have  been  so  frequently  and 
graphically  described  in  numerous  housing  surveys  and 
investigations  that  they  are  familiar  to  every  student 
of  industrial  conditions. 

Taking   conditions   in   typical   industrial   localities   as 

*Thc  Immigration  Commission's  investigation  of  over  17.000  families  in  indus- 
trial localities  shows  that  the  average  number  of  rooms  was  4.34,  and  of  10,400 
families  in  large  cities  3.70  rooms.  The  British  Board  of  Trade  data  for  90,000 
working-class  dwellings  showed  that  the  predominant  types  were  four  and  five 
rooms.  The  British  investigation  included,  however,  perhaps  a  disproportionate 
number  of  highly  paid  workers. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  293 

representative,  the  average  number  of  persons  per  apart- 
ment or  house  in  wage-earners'  homes  has  been  found 
to  be  nearly  six  persons,  and  the  average  number  of 
rooms  per  family  group  is  slightly  over  four,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  information  available.^  There  were  thus 
about  1.30  persons  to  a  room  and  2.50  to  a  sleeping 
room.  In  nearly  yy  per  cent,  of  over  17,000  house- 
holds in  purely  industrial  cities  there  were  found  to  be 
two  or  more  persons  to  a  sleeping  room,  in  37  per 
cent,  there  were  found  to  be  three  or  more  persons,  and 
in  nearly  15  per  cent,  there  were  found  to  be  four  or 
more  persons  to  a  sleeping  room.  In  nearly  a  third 
of  these  households  every  room  except  one  was  used 
for  sleeping  purposes  and  in  about  the  same  proportion 
every  room  except  two  were  so  used.  Thus  in  nearly 
two-thirds  of  the  households  the  family  did  not  have 
more  than  two  rooms  available  for  exclusively  other 
purposes   than   sleeping. 

Congestion  is  appreciably  greater  among  the  newer 
immigrant  workers  than  among  the  native-born  and 
older  immigrants.  This  was  clearly  brought  out  by  the 
investigations  made  by  the  Immigration  Commission, 
from  whose  report  the  following  tabulation  gives  sta- 
tistics for  native-born  households,  and  the  households 
of  the  principal  older  and  newer  immigrant  races. 
Not  only  do  the  newer  immigrants  live  in  smaller 
houses  and  apartments,  and  have  a  larger  number  of 
persons  per  room,  but  in  nearly  half  of  their  house- 

*  These  statements  are  based  on  data  secured  by  the  Federal  Immigration 
for  17,141  households  exclusive  of  congested  districts  in  larger  cities. 


294 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


holds  all  but  one  room  is  used  for  sleeping  purposes, 
thus  making  available  only  one  room  for  cooking,  eat- 
ing, and  general  living  purposes: 


•t^  e 


^   bo  c 

•"   S  ° 

o  ■>  " 

a  u 


<u  X  o 
in   «J  hh 

O  —    C 


•2   u 


Race  of 

bo  n 
a  3 

-S  <^ 

2i2^i 

^l-S 

2  «  «' 

Household 

M 

1^ 

fc^i£ 

ij^S-^ 

^.Si. 

Head 

< 

I? 

PL, 

Ph 

< 

Native  (white) a      5.37 

.77 

2.6 

6.2 

.17 

English   . .     . 

5.17 

.87 

3.9 

10.0 

.24 

German.. 

5.11 

1.02 

9.2, 

11.5 

.51 

Scotch     . .     . 

5.02 

1.08 

12.6 

10.4 

.13 

Irish 

5.37 

1.02 

4.9 

10.4 

.25 

Croatian.. 

4.01 

1.88 

43.8 

46.8 

3.80 

Hebrew  . .     . 

3.94 

1.36 

21.6 

28.8 

.26 

S.   Italian 

3.84 

1.47 

30.9 

45.7 

1.03 

N.  Italian      . 

3.89 

1.42 

23.4 

41.7 

1.18 

Bulgarian 

2.41 

2.53 

78.4  c 

24.5 

1.01 

Magyar  . . 

3.75 

1.72 

40.6 

50.2 

2.43 

Roumanian    . 

4.84 

2.57 

74.0 

54.5 

9.53 

Russian.. 

3.35 

1.77 

42.7 

64.0 

2.20 

Servian   . . 

4.88 

1.97 

55.1 

56.5 

6.72 

Slovak     . .      . 

3.62 

1.62 

36.8 

47.8 

1.16 

Polish     . .      . 

3.82 

1.58 

33.9 

43.4 

1.46 

a  Of  native  father. 

b  Based  on  total  number  of  households. 

c  Not  including  1   household  not  reporting  number  of  rooms. 

from  reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  19,  pp.  153-163. 


Compiled  from  reports 


These  conditions  were  found  by  the  Immigration 
Commission  in  the  smaller  industrial  centers  in  manu- 
facturing and  mining  sections  of  the  country.  The 
same  authority  gives  the  results  of  an  investigation  of 
over  io,ooo  households  in  the  congested  districts  of 
New  York  City,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Boston,  Cleve- 
land, Bufifalo  and  Milwaukee.  Here  congestion  may  be 
expected    in    greater    intensity,    yet    the    investigation 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  295 

showed  conclusively  that  even  in  the  worst  sections  it 
was  not  much  worse  than  in  the  purely  industrial  cen- 
ters. The  average  number  of  persons  per  room  was 
found  to  be  only  1.34,  and  per  sleeping  room  2.32.  The 
greatest  overcrowding  was  in  Boston,  with  1.44  persons 
per  room,  and  the  lowest  in  Milwaukee,  with  1.14,  the 
ratio  for  other  cities  being  as  follows :  Philadelphia, 
1.41;  Cleveland,  1.40;  New  York,  1.39;  Buffalo,  1.33, 
and  Chicago,  1.26.  A  greater  congestion  was  also 
found  among  new  immigrant  households  than  among 
native  and  older  immigrants.  Congestion  is  greatly 
aggravated  by  the  prevalence  of  the  system  of  keeping 
boarders  or  lodgers  and  of  rooming  groups,  especially 
among  the  newer  immigrant  races  in  industrial  com- 
munities. This  condition  will  be  referred  to  under  the 
head  of  living  arrangements. 

Living  Arrangements 
That  approximately  a  third  of  the  workingmen's 
families  in  industrial  localities  and  slightly  less  than 
that  proportion  of  workingmen's  families  in  large  popu- 
lation centers  are  unable  to  maintain  a  separate  family 
existence,  appears  to  be  a  warrantable  conclusion  from 
a  study  of  nearly  30,000  typical  households.^  Among 
the  families  of  native  (white)  American  workers,  the 
proportion  is  about  10  or  12  per  cent.,  while  among  the 
newer  immigrant  households  the  proportion  is  very  much 
greater.    These  are  households  composed  either  of  fami- 

"  This  estimate  is  based  chiefly  on  the  Federal  Immigration  Commission's 
investigation  of  over  27,000  households  and  on  data  obtained  by  several  govern- 
mental and  other  inquiries  and  surveys. 


296  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

lies  and  boarders  or  lodgers,  or  of  groups  of  single 
workers  or  workers  separated  from  their  families.  A 
large  number  of  wage-earners,  of  course,  are  adrift 
from  their  families. 

The  character  of  the  living  arangements  of  wage- 
workers  is  determined  by  several  important  factors 
which  do  not  ordinarily  affect  the  living  arrangements 
of  the  rest  of  the  population.  Chief  among  these  is 
the  permanency  of  residence.  Any  cause  that  results 
in  the  mobility  of  the  labor  supply,  and  in  irregularity 
of  employment  and  unemployment,  is  a  factor  of  vital 
importance  to  the  wage-worker's  household.  In  per- 
manent industrial  localities,  where  a  labor  force  is  more 
or  less  constantly  maintained  in  connection  with  an 
established  plant  or  plants,  the  tendency  is  toward  the 
family  group;  in  temporary  localities,  such  as  lumber, 
construction,  or  harvest  camps,  or  in  transportation, 
there   is  little  opportunity    for   family  life. 

Of  equal  importance,  probably,  is  the  conjugal  con- 
dition of  the  workers,  and  the  factors  affecting  mar- 
riage among  them.  Married  workers  having  their  fami- 
lies with  them  have  "household"  arrangements ;  unmar- 
ried male  or  female  workers,  or  married  male  workers 
without  their  families  with  them,  must  either  board  or 
lodge  with  families,  or  live  in  boarding  and  lodging 
groups  either  of  their  own  forming  or  conducted  by 
others  where  no  family  is  tlie  nucleus.  The  "family 
household"  is  naturally  found  in  permanent  industrial 
communities;  the  non- family  group  systems  exist  chiefly 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  297 

in  temporary  camps,  but  are  also  found  among  the 
newer  immigrant  workers  in  permanent  communities. 
Of  great  importance,  too,  is  the  factor  of  the  economic 
status  of  the  worker.  The  less  he  has  to  spend  on 
subsistence,  either  voluntarily  or  otherwise,  the  larger 
are  the  groups,  whether  they  be  in  family  households 
or  in  non- family  boarding  and  lodging  establishments. 
The  higher  and  more  regular  the  wage,  the  greater  is 
the  tendency  toward  separate  and  distinct  family  life, 
except  in  the  case  of  newer  immigrants  who  do  not 
expect  to  become  permanent  residents  of  this  country 
and  strive  to  save,  even  at  the  expense  of  decent  and 
healthful  standards  of  living.  The  lower  the  income 
the  greater  is  the  necessity  for  the  family  to  add  to 
it  by  taking  boarders  and  lodgers  and  to  destroy  its 
unity  of  life.  Finally,  social  habits  and  customs  have 
much  to  do  with  living  arrangements,  for  wide  differ- 
ences are  found  among  workers  of  different  races.  As 
the  result  of  these  factors,  there  are  several  deviations 
from  the  normal  household  arrangement  where  the 
family  maintains  an  undisturbed  unity  of  life,  vi::;.:  (i) 
Two  or  more  families  are  found  to  occupy  the  same 
apartment  or  single  house.  (2)  Families  are  com- 
pelled to  admit  boarders  or  lodgers,  either  (a)  maintain- 
ing a  distinct  family  economy  to  which  boarders  or 
lodgers  merely  contribute  in  board  and  rent  payments, 
or  (b)  surrendering  the  family  system  of  household 
management  entirely  and  living  in  a  cooperative  or 
copartnership  arrangement  with  the  boarders  or  lodg- 


298  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR. 

ers.  (3)  Rooming  and  boarding  groups  in  which  no 
family  exists,  but  which  are  composed  entirely  of  de- 
tached workers.  The  relative  prevalence  of  the  single- 
family  household  as  well  as  of  the  other  types  of  living 
arrangements  are  perhaps  fairly  indicated  in  the  follow- 
ing tabulation: 

Per  Cent.  "Family"  Households 


With  neith 

er 

With 

boarders 

■« 

boarders  nor 

or 

•a 

s  3 
c  0 

lodgers 

1 

odgers 

^•5 

"a 

S  >  u 

0  —  ^ 

S   m   u 

0)    60 

•-  -^   0 

0  •=  ■" 

s 

T3 
1- 

n 

0 

t- 
<u 

60 

0 

3 
0 

c  ^ 

Nativity  of  Head 
OF  Household 

0  ° 

"3) 

c 

'in 

0  £  « 

0 
H 

1 

.-  0 

"n 

0 

nj    0 

Native   (white) 

.      1,866 

88 

I 

89 

8 

2 

10 

99 

1 

Foreign-born     .  . 

.    15.127 

62 

3 

65 

12 

20 

32 

97 

3 

Total      

.    17,141 

65 

2 

67 

11 

19 

30 

97 

3 

Compiled  from  reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  19,  pp.  287-288. 

The  above  statistics  for  households  having  foreign- 
born  heads  do  not,  however,  portray  actual  conditions 
because  of  the  difference  in  living  arrangements  of  older 
and  newer  immigrant  workers.  The  older  immigrant 
households  (Scotch,  English,  Irish,  German,  Welsh, 
French,  etc.)  are  of  the  same  type  as  the  native  Ameri- 
can and  should  properly  be  included  with  the  native- 
born  workers.  The  type  of  living  arrangements  among 
workers  of  other  races  is  indicated  by  the  following 
statistics  compiled  from  the  reports  of  the  Immigra- 
tion Commission  for  households  of  the  principal  newer 
immigrant  races  living  in  permanent  manufacturing  and 
mining  localities : 


IN   "AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  299 

Race  of  Household  Per  cent,   of  all  house-       Average  number  of 

Head  holds   keeping   board-  boarders  or  lodgers 

ers  or  lodgers  per  household  ^ 

Croatian 59.5  6.39 

Hebrew 18.4  1.40 

South  Italian 33.5  3.06 

North  Italian 34i  3.47 

Bulgarian       122  8.29 

Magyar 53.6  4.53 

Roumanian 77.8  12.23 

Russian 54.7  4.02 

Servian 92.8  7.25 

Slovak     36.0  3.22 

Polish      48.4  3.01 

The  large  proportion  of  newer  immigrant  households 
which  keep  boarders  and  lodgers,  and  the  large  average 
number  of  boarders  and  lodgers  in  these  households,  is 
due  to  a  practise  peculiar  to  households  of  the  races 
named  above.  This  is  the  "boarding  boss  system." 
Under  this  arrangement  a  married  immigrant  or  his 
wife,  or  a  single  man,  is  the  head  of  the  household, 
which  is  composed  of  the  members  of  the  family  of  the 
head  and  from  two  to  twenty  or  more  boarders  or 
lodgers.  In  some  of  these  households  the  congestion 
is  so  great  that  half  a  dozen  day-work  men  will  occupy 
a  sleeping  room  at  night  and  another  half  dozen  night- 
work  men  will  occupy  it  during  the  day.  This  is  due, 
of  course,  to  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  immigrants  of  these  races  are  males  who  are  either 
single  or  who  have  left  their  wives  In  the  "old  country." 
This  condition  is  set  forth  by  the  following  statistics 
taken  in  consideration  with  the  above  tabulation: 

'Based  on  number  of  households  keeping  boarders  and  lodgers. 


300 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


Per  cent,  of: 


^•5 


C    O    3 
3          O 

O    S 

u         a 

sis 

a  u. 

a  « 

TS    to 

\CE  OF  Household            «  «  °" 
Head                            fc  ^  ^ 

umbe 
hold 
male 

[ale 

hous 

are 

15^ 

< 

^ 

S 

S 

Croatian    . 

.     . .        3.80 

58.1 

78.6 

59.3 

Hebrew 

.     ..          26 

51.0 

82.0 

11.0 

S.  Italian  . 

.     . .        1.03 

58.5 

70.9 

36.9 

N.  Italian. 

.     ..         1.18 

55.2 

78.4 

36.6 

Bulgarian  . 

.     ..         1.01 

96.8 

74.2 

90.0 

Magyar 

.     . .        2.43 

58.2 

77.0 

43.3 

Roumanian 

9.53 

61.8 

76.4 

73.9 

Russian 

.     . .        2.20 

57.0 

73.8 

45.5 

Servian 

.     . .        6.72 

69.9 

62.2 

64.5 

Slovak 

.     ..        1.16 

53.7 

87.4 

34.2 

Polish 

.     . .         1.46 

55.5 

73.5 

23.0 

rhe  Amer 

ican  type  of  f 

amily  hot 

sehold  an 

ang-em 

is  so  familiar  that  it  does  not  need  description  here; 
it  is  mainly  a  question  of  the  adequacy  of  the  hus- 
band's or  breadwinner's  income  to  meet  the  family's  ex- 
penses, and  thus  maintain  its  standard  of  living.  The 
newer  immigrant  household,  however,  possesses  these 
marked  peculiarities,  due  not  only  to  the  inadequacy 
of  a  breadwinner's  earnings  to  maintain  a  standard 
similar  to  that  existing  in  native  and  older  immigrant 
households,  but  also  to  racial  habits  and  standards  and 
to  the  desire  to  save  money  to  be  sent  or  taken  abroad. 
The  newer  immigrant  household  is  thus  of  two  types: 
( I )  The  household  conducted  by  a  family  with  one  or 
more  children   and   boarders   or  lodgers,   and    (2)    the 

*  Based  on  all  households. 

•  Including  children. 

">  Twenty  years  of  age   or  over. 


IN   ^AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  301 

boarding  or  lodging  group  composed  entirely  of  males, 
occasionally  with  a  hired  woman  to  do  the  housework. 
The  large  majority  of  women  workers  live  with  their 
families,  either  as  wives  or  as  daughters.  It  seems 
to  be  generally  true  that  only  in  the  larger  cities  is 
there  any  considerable  proportion  of  them  "adrift""; 
in  the  industrial  towns  they  are  contributors  to  fam- 
ily income  or  board  and  lodge  at  home,  being  either 
partially  or  wholly  self-supporting.  In  some  large  cities 
the  following  proportions  of  women  adrift,  of  the  total 
number  for  whom  data  were  secured,  are  given  by  the 
Federal  Report  on  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners 


12 . 


Per  cent,  of  women  workers 
"adrift"  employed  in 

f '^ : — s 

^  Retail  Factories, 

stores  mills,  etc. 

Boston     35.8  2S.3 

Chicago       20.3  16.4 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul 27.7  18.5 

New  York 7.9  13.0 

Philadelphia 22.2  18.0 

St.  Louis 21.0  21.6 

Total 26.2  15.2 

In  those  cases  where  women  workers  are  members 
of  their  own  families  their  living  arrangements  are 
those  of  the  family  or  home,  but  among  women  "adrift" 
four  types  of  living  arrangements  were  found : 

(i)  Those  keeping  house,  composed  of  women  who 
rent  a  house  or  tenement  where  they  have  their  own 

"  The  term  "adrift"  was  used  by  the  Federal  Woman  and  Child  Wage- 
Earners'  report  to  mean  boarding  and  lodging  women  wage-earners  as  well  as 
those  whose  so-called  homes  were  "only  impending  wreckage."    Vol.  v,  p.  12. 

"Vol.  V,  p.  15. 


302  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

private  entrance  and  in  which  they  Hve  independently 
of  other  people. 

(2)  Those  living  in  private  families  as  boarders  or 
lodgers  where  not  more  than  three  outsiders  live. 

(3)  Those  living  in  regular  boarding  or  lodging 
houses  where  more  than  three  outsiders  live. 

(4)  Those  living  in  organized  boarding  houses 
financed  by  some  social  organization  for  philanthropic 
purposes. 

The  distribution  of  "adrift"  women  workers,  accord- 
ing to  this  classification,  were  found  to  differ  consid- 
erably in  the  various  cities  named,  as  shown  in  the 
following  table: 

Per  cent,  of  total  workers  interviewed 


/ 

Living  in 

Living  in 

Living  with 

boarding  or 

organized 

City 

Keeping 

private 

lodging 

boarding 

house 

family 

houses 

houses  " 

Boston       . .      . . 

14.6 

17.4 

56.6 

11.4 

Chicago     . .      . . 

4.6 

61.8 

27.7 

5.9 

Minneapolis  and 

St.  Paul 

2.4 

22.7 

58.3 

16.6 

New  York 

40.8 

38.5 

1.6 

19.1 

Philadelphia     . . 

24.6 

49.8 

25.6 

St.  Louis  . . 

15.3 

23.0 

47.4 

i4.'3 

Total      ..     ..         16.6  39.6  ZZ.7  10.1 

Ownership  of  Homes 

Approximately  three- fourths  of  American-born  wage- 
earners'  families  live  in  rented  houses,  according  to 
most  accurate  general  sources  of  information.^"* 

"  Number  and  per  cent,  not  applicable  to  whole  group  of  wage-earning  women, 
as  special  canvass  was  made. 

"  These  statistics  are  based  on  the  results  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Com- 
mission's investigation  and  the  Rritish  Hoard  of  Trade's  inquiry  into  the  cost 
of  living  in  American  towns  in  1909,  and  such  local  data  as  arc  available. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  303 

With  the  exception  of  English-born  wage-earners,  the 
percentage  of  home-owning  heads  of  famihes  from 
northern  Europe,  including  Ireland  and  Scotland,  is 
considerably  higher  than  for  American-born,  ranging 
from  30  to  70  per  cent.  Even  the  Croatian,  North 
Italian,  and  Slovenian  immigrants  have  a  greater  per- 
centage of  home-owning  heads  of  families  than  have 
the  native-born  white  workers  in  industrial  communi- 
ties. The  most  complete  available  data  indicate  that  less 
than  15  per  cent,  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  Portuguese,  Ru- 
manian, Ruthenian,  Russian,  Servian,  Syrian,  South 
Italian  and  Magyar  immigrant  workers  in  industrial 
localities  are  home  owners.  With  very  few  exceptions 
as  to  race,  the  great  majority  of  workingmen's  families 
in  the  United  States  are  not  owners  of  their  own 
homes. 

In  some  older  industrial  localities  where  certain  indus- 
tries have  been  long  established  and  have  not  caused 
any  very  marked  changes  in  the  character  of  the  supply 
of  labor  they  employ,  the  percentage  of  home-owning 
workers  is  higher  than  this  average,  especially  in  locali- 
ties where  there  is  a  large  proportion  of  better-paid 
skilled  workers.  In  Brockton,  Mass.,  for  example,  the 
number  of  wage-earners'  families  living  in  their  own 
homes  is  unusually  high.^^  In  an  industrial  community 
in  the  Middle  West,  where  the  predominant  industry  is 
the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  and  of  vehi- 
cles and  where  there  are  unusually  strong  inducements 
in  wages   for  permanent   residence,   it   was   found   that 

"British  Board  of  Trade — Cost  of  Living  in  American  Towns,  p.  124. 


304  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

nearly  half  of  the  workers  owned  their  homes.^*  On 
the  other  hand,  in  localities  where  there  is  a  predomi- 
nance of  unskilled,  low-paid  labor,  and  therefore  of  a 
shifting  population,  home  ownership  is  comparatively 
rare.  In  Paterson,  N.  J.,  for  example,  it  was  found 
that  only  about  a  fifth  of  the  silk  workers'  families 
owned  their  homes.  Only  12  per  cent,  of  the  native 
American  families  were  home-owners,  and  if  the  Dutch 
and  German  families  be  excepted,  the  home-owning 
percentage  would  be  considerably  lower  than  a  fifth." 
Practically  all  of  the  textile-mill  employees  in  Lawrence, 
Mass.,  were  found  to  be  living  in  rented  tenements, 
according  to  an  investigation  by  the  Federal  Bureau 
of  Labor,^*  and  the  supply  of  detached  houses  was 
very  small.  Approximately  90  per  cent,  of  the  steel 
workers'  families  in  the  Birmingham,  Ala.,  district  were 
found  to  live  in  rented  houses,  altho  the  prevailing  type 
of  house  was  the  single,  detached  variety.^^  In  iso- 
lated mining  communities  and  in  communities  where  a 
single  plant  affords  practically  the  entire  demand  for 
labor,  the  proportion  of  home-owning  families  is  low 
since  the  houses  are  owned  by  the  employer.  There 
appears  to  be  a  marked  tendency,  however,  for  em- 
ployers to  sell  their  company  houses  as  fast  as  they  can, 
but  the  employees  who  purchase  are  chiefly  the  better- 
paid  skilled  workers,  whose  permanency  of  residence 
is  of  distinct  advantage  to  their  employers. 

"  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  14,  p.  599. 

"  Woman  and  Child  Wage-Earners,  Vol  iv,  p.  310. 

"  Report  on  Strike  of  Textile  Workers  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  1912,  pp.  23-26. 

'»  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  9,  p.  232. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  305 

In  the  large  cities  the  percentage  of  home-owning 
workingmen's  famihes  is  much  lower  than  in  purely 
industrial  localities.  The  Federal  Immigration  Com- 
mission's investigation  of  over  10,000  households  in 
the  congested  districts  of  some  large  cities,  disclosed 
the  fact  that  only  about  one-tenth  of  the  workers' 
families  lived  in  their  own  homes.  In  New  York  tene- 
ment districts  only  one-half  of  i  per  cent,  owned  their 
homes,  while  in  Milwaukee,  where  the  tenement  type  of 
house  is  not  so  prevalent,  about  19  per  cent,  were 
home-owners,  and  in  Buffalo  17.5  per  cent.  Even  in 
Chicago  over  16  per  cent,  of  the  families  investigated 
were  found  to  be  living  in  their  own  homes.  On  the 
other  hand,  only  4.4  per  cent,  were  home-owners  in 
Boston,  and  but  7.4  per  cent,  in  Philadelphia,  where 
the  smaller  house  so  largely  prevails,  had  purchased 
homes. 

Community  Environment 

That  the  wage-worker  and  his  family  live  in  a  com- 
munity environment  unmistakably  less  healthful  and 
less  attractive,  more  depressing,  possessing  fewer  con- 
veniences, and  beyond  question  worse  from  nearly 
every  point  of  view,  than  the  average  citizen  engaged 
in  other  pursuits,  is  a  fact  so  well  recognized  as 
to  need  no  elaboration  here.  With  rare  exceptions, 
the  industrial  worker  does  not  enjoy  the  same  public 
advantages  and  opportunities  that  are  afforded  to  others. 
The  old  idea  of  class  distinction  persists  to  such  an 
extent  that  this   condition   is  accepted  by  the   average 


3o6  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

citizen  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  the  belief  unhappily 
still  prevails  that  the  wage-earner  should  take  for 
granted  that  his  expectations  of  even  community  bene- 
fits ought  to  be  smaller  than  those  of  other  individuals. 

The  result  is  an  unmistakable  tendency  toward  the 
segregation  of  wage-earners  from  the  other  population  in 
almost  every  locality  where  there  is  a  considerable  pro- 
portion not  engaged  in  industrial  occupations.  In  every 
city  is  to  be  found  the  "residential"  section  contrasted 
with  the  "working-class"  section, — wards  where  the 
low-paid  workers  live — the  "slums"  and  the  tene- 
ments. Practically  every  investigation  of  the  environ- 
ment of  wage-earners  has  called  attention  to  the  lack 
of  water  and  sewage  facilities,  unkempt  streets,  absence 
of  paving,  or  other  tardy  public  improvements,  and  the 
general  contrast  in  appearance  between  those  sections 
occupied  by  wage-earners'  families  and  the  so-called 
"residential"  sections.  In  nearly  every  industrial  com- 
munity whose  population  is  composed  almost  entirely 
of  wage-earners  there  is  a  marked  difference  between 
those  streets  on  which  the  unskilled  workers  live  and 
those  on  which  the  better-paid  workers  have  their 
homes.  Since  the  newer  immigration  has  come  so 
largely  into  the  unskilled  occupations,  this  difference  is 
more  plainly  evident.  Practically  all  industrial  locali- 
ties now  have  their  "little  Italics"  and  their  "Hungary 
hollows." 

There  are  two  types  of  immigrant  communities,  both 
of  which,  in  view  of  the  extent  to  which  the  newer 
immigrant  has  entered  into  the  population  of  industrial 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  307 

localities  in  the  East  and  Middle  West,  are  of  extreme 
significance  in  connection  with  the  general  question  of 
community  environment.  The  first  is  the  community 
which  has  affixt  itself  to  already  existing  urban  popu- 
lations. "Foreign  communities  of  this  character,"  ac- 
cording to  the  conclusions  stated  in  a  recent  study  of 
immigrants  in  industry ,^'^  "are  as  numerous  as  the  older 
industrial  towns  and  centers  of  the  country.  The  tex- 
tile manufacturing  centers  of  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States,  such  as  Fall  River,  Lowell  and  New 
Bedford,  Massachusetts;  Manchester,  New  Hampshire; 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  Paterson,  New  Jersey; 
cities  in  which  other  industries  are  located,  such  as 
paper  manufacturing  in  Holyoke  and  boot  and  shoe 
factories  in  Haverhill  and  Lynn,  Massachusetts;  hard- 
ware,  cutlery  and  jewelry,  located  in  New  Britain  and 
Meriden,  Connecticut ;  or  leather  finishing  and  curry- 
ing, as  in  Wilmington  Delaware ;  clothing  manufactur- 
ing, as  in  Rochester;  collars  and  cuffs  in  Troy;  hosiery 
and  knit  goods,  as  in  Cohoes  and  Utica,  New  York;  oil 
refining  in  Bayonne,  New  Jersey;  or  cities  engaged  in 
diversified  manufacturing,  as  Passaic  and  Newark,  New 
Jersey — all  these  have  colonies  or  sections  populated  by 
recent   immigrants. 

"The  same  condition  of  affairs  is  found  in  the  iron 
and  steel,  glass,  and  other  older  manufacturing  cities 
and  towns  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  the  Middle 
West.  As  representative  types  in  this  class  in  connec- 
tion with  the  manufacture  of  glass,  Tarentum,   Penn- 

*<>  Jenks  and  Lauck,  The  Immigration  Problem,  3d  Edition,  pp.  68-69. 


3o8  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

sylvania;  Morgantown,  West  Virginia,  and  Steuben- 
ville  and  Rossford,  Ohio,  may  be  mentioned;  and  as 
typical  iron  and  steel  localities,  Steel  ton  and  Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania;  Youngstown,  Ohio,  and  South  Chicago 
and  DeKalb,  Illinois.  Pittsburgh,  or  the  Pittsburgh 
District,  is  practically  made  up  of  industrial  towns  or 
^  cities  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel, 
glass  and  allied  products,  each  of  which  has  an  immi- 
grant colony  or  section  composed  of  households  of  wage- 
earners  of  recent  immigration." 

The  other  type  is  the  more  or  less  isolated  com- 
munity which  has  grown  up  around  a  plant  or  a  mine 
since  the  supply  of  newer  immigrant  labor  has  become 
available.  It  is  a  familiar  type  in  the  coal-producing 
areas  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Ala- 
bama, Ohio,  Indiana,  Colorado,  and  in  the  iron-ore  and 
copper-mining  districts  of  Minnesota  and  Michigan.  It 
is  found  in  connection  with  steel  plants,  glass  manu-  ; 
facture  and  other  establishments  located  away  from } 
previously  existing  urban  centers. 

In  both  of  these  modern  types  of  industrial  communi- 
ties the  environment  is  in  marked  contrast  to  communi- 
ties populated  by  families  engaged  in  non-industrial 
pursuits.  The  attractive  environment  is  a  rare  excep- 
tion. A  depressing  absence  of  homelike  neighborhoods, 
a  general  air  of  unkemptness  and  of  public  carelessness, 
the  prevalence  of  a  hideous  sameness  in  houses  that 
are  built  with  as  great  a  scorn  of  architectural  art  as 
is  possible  to  conceive,  the  frequency  of  dirt  and  filth 
in  the  streets  and  alleys,  the  lack  of  trees  and  grass — 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  309 

these  are  some  of  the  signs  by  which  a  "working-class 
town"  or  a  "working-class  section"  is  so  easily  recog- 
nizable as  to  have  become  typical  of  the  community 
environment  in  which  the  wage-worker  and  his  family 
must  live,  in  spite  of  some  notable  reforms  that  are 
being  made  by  some  employers  and  municipalities. 

In  accounting  for  these  conditions  of  unfavorable 
environment  the  cause  usually  assigned  is  the  differ- 
ence in  the  economic  status  of  the  wage-earning  popu- 
lation and  of  the  rest  of  the  population  of  any  com- 
munity. Healthful  environment,  attractive  surround- 
ings and  the  possession  of  conveniences,  it  is  commonly 
argued,  are  purchasable  commodities.  Generations  of 
individuals  unaccustomed  to  better  conditions,  it  is 
alleged,  have  had  their  effect  in  removing  the  desire 
for  them,  and  in  establishing  a  lower  standard  of  en- 
vironment just  as  they  have  established  a  low  standard 
of  living  within  the  household.  Undemocratic  as  this 
explanation  of  those  differences  in  environment,  which 
are  under  the  control  of  the  public,  may  seem,  it  must 
be  accepted  as  true,  at  least  in  part.  To  a  large  degree, 
in  spite  of  the  more  enlightened  community  spirit  which 
has  appeared  in  most  non-industrial  and  in  some  indus- 
trial localities,  conditions  that  ought  to  be  provided  by 
the  community  for  all  Its  citizens,  regardless  of  their 
inequalities  of  economic  status,  are  still  available  only 
to  those  who  are  able  to  purchase  them  and  to  secure 
them  by  individual  influence,  or  through  the  collective 
power  of  "influential  citizens." 

There   are   two  principal   reasons   for  this  condition 


3IO  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  inequality.  Both  are  social  in  their  character  rather 
than  economic.  One  arises  from  a  conception  of  prop- 
erty representation  in  the  administration  of  municipal 
government.  Because  the  wealthy  citizen  pays  more 
taxes  than  the  poor  citizen  it  is  assumed  that  he  should 
enjoy  a  proportionately  greater  share  of  the  public  con- 
veniences and  provisions  for  community  well-being. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  average  industrial  locality  spends 
more  on  the  "residential"  streets  and  sections  than  on 
the  "working-class"  neighborhoods,  that  the  sewers  and 
water  facilities  are  extended  toward  "poorer"  sections 
last,  and  that  provisions  for  the  public  health  are  often 
undertaken  by  municipalities,  not  so  much  because  the 
workingmen  and  their  families  have  a  right  to  be  safe- 
guarded, as  for  the  purpose  of  "protecting"  the  "better 
class"  from  infection  and  contagion  from  their  poorer 
neighbors.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  exemplification  in 
public  administration  of  a  class  distinction,  whatever 
may  be  the  underlying  causes  that  have  established  this 
distinction. 

The  other  may  be  termed  the  segregation  of  the 
wage-earners,  particularly  the  unskilled  and  low-paid, 
from  the  community  itself.  This  segregation  is  not 
simply  a  matter  of  location,  which  is  also  determined 
by  the  factors  of  rent,  convenience  to  places  of  work, 
and  the  like,  but  is  social  (in  its  broad  sense)  and 
political.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enlarge  on  this  often- 
observed  condition,  beyond  pointing  out  that  the  influx 
into  industry  of  the  southern  and  eastern  European  im- 
migrants has  greatly  intensified  it.    Their  low  standards 


l^ 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  311 

of  culture  and  of  living,  their  isolation  from  the  native- 
born  population  because  of  their  inability  to  speak 
English  and  to  associate  with  their  American  neigh- 
bors, and  the  influence  of  their  own  racial  and 
religious  institutions,  customs  and  habits  in  maintain- 
ing racial  and  denominational  distinctions,  are  segregat- 
ing factors,  augmented  by  an  attitude  of  indiffer- 
ence and  oftentimes  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  native- 
born  population.  There  has  thus  grown  up  in  almost 
every  industrial  locality  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  north  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers  a  more  or 
less  isolated  immigrant  section  with  institutions,  cus- 
toms, businesses  and  standards  of  morals  and  living 
peculiar  to  the  predominant  race  or  races  composing  its 
population.  The  people  of  these  sections  have  little  or 
no  voice  in  the  community.  As  the  Immigration  Com- 
mission discovered,  they  are  exploited  not  only  by 
leaders  of  their  own  race,  but  by  natives,  and  are  re- 
garded as  legitimate  tools  for  unscrupulous  ward-heelers 
in  our  politically  backward  municipalities. 

This  segregation  of  the  wage-earners,  particularly  the 
unskilled,  low-paid  worker,  has  meant  nothing  less  than 
his  disbarment  from  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the 
community,  politically  and  otherwise.  He  has  been  un- 
able to  exercise,  and  has  not  known  how  to  exercise,  a 
voice  in  the  matters  that  affect  his  own  environment, 
and  has  been  practically  at  the  complete  mercy  of  the 
rest  of  the  local  population  of  the  community.  In  those 
isolated  localities  where  the  employer  is  the  owner  of  all 
the  property,  and  where  there  is  no  "public,"  he  has  been 


312  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

hardly  less  his  own  master.  Even  should  he  be  disposed 
or  moved  to  exercise  his  political  rights,  it  has  been 
found  that  more  than  often  he  has  been  intimidated  by 
his  employer  or  the  local  politicians  who  are  in  league 
with  his  employer.  Unorganized  and  without  bargain- 
ing power,  unled  except  by  those  who  seek  to  exploit 
him,  and  untrained  and  incapable  of  initiative,  without 
the  opportunity  even  if  he  knew  how  to  grasp  it,  and  so 
involved  in  the  fight  for  a  bare  subsistence  that  he  can 
not  see  beyond  the  end  of  a  day,  the  average  unskilled 
wage- worker  is  peculiarly  the  ward  of  the  community  in 
which  he  hves.  The  character  of  his  environment  de- 
pends almost  entirely  upon  the  democracy  of  spirit, 
humaneness  of  view,  and  civic  standards  of  those  who 
now  rule  the  American  industrial  municipalities. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  313 


VIII 

THE  WAGE-EARNER'S  HEALTH 

Among  the  most,  important  and  significant  develop- 
ments of  the  last  decade  have  been  the  evidences  of  a 
growing  realization  on  the  part  of  the  economist  as 
well  as  the  physician  and  sanitarian,  and  of  the  em- 
ployer of  labor  as  well  as  the  labor  leader  and  social 
worker,  that  the  health  of  the  wage-earner  and  his  fam- 
ily is  peculiarly  involved  in  certain  economic  and  social 
conditions. 

These  conditions  render  the  problem  of  disease  pre- 
vention among  wage-workers  and  their  families  more 
complex  and  difficult  than  among  the  population  in 
general.  Disease  has  been  found  to  be  incident  to  the 
demands  made  upon  the  worker's  strength  and  vitality 
by  certain  occupations  and  working  conditions.  Irregu- 
lar employment  has  been  discovered  to  impair  the  effi- 
ciency of  workers,  to  result  in  worry  and  neurasthenia, 
and  to  intensify  their  economic  disadvantage.  Un- 
healthful  conditions  of  living,  such  as  inadequate 
and  innutritions  diet,  insanitary  and  congested  housing, 
and  unfavorable  community  environment  in  industrial  dis- 
tricts and  localities,  are  suffered  to  a  greater  extent  by  the 
wage-working    population    than    by    other    social    or 


314  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

economic  groups.  The  necessity  for  the  employment  of 
women  under  modern  factory  conditions,  particularly  of 
mothers,  has  been  found  to  be  distinctly  prejudicial  to  their 
health  as  well  as  to  the  health  of  their  children.  Pov- 
erty and  disease,  according  to  abundant  evidence  only 
now  being  collected  and  stated  in  a  scientific  and  con- 
vincmg  manner,  are  close  partners.  The  maintenance 
of  a  healthful  standard  of  living  is  possible  only  for 
those  who  have  the  financial  means,  as  well  as  the 
knowledge,  for  the  avoidance  of  the  conditions,  the 
environment,  and  the  habits  that  cause  ill  health.  In 
a  broad,  yet  in  a  fundamental  sense,  health  has  been 
a  luxury  to  the  wage-earner  because  it  has  been  a  pur- 
chasable thing. 

The  new  conception  of  health  as  an  economic  "neces- 
sity" for  efficient  work  and  living,  has  a  significance  so 
far-reaching  as  to  be  epochal  in  the  history  of  social 
philosophy.  Out  of  it  have  already  appeared  legislation 
for  healthful  housing,  workmen's  compensation  laws, 
and  a  nation-wide  movement  for  "safety  first";  the  in- 
telligent and  scientific  study  of  occupational  disease  haz- 
ards; physical  examination  and  supervision  of  workers 
by  employing  establishments;  the  installation  of  sanitary 
conveniences  and  safeguards  in  factories  and  employer- 
owned  dwellings  for  workers ;  and  an  unmistakable  move- 
ment for  governmental  health-insurance  of  wage-earners. 
Of  perhaps  even  greater  significance  than  these  is  the 
growing  tendency  to  displace  charity  treatment  and 
relief  of  the  poverty-ridden  sick  by  scientific  and  well- 
organized  prevention  of  disease  and  systematic  methods 


IN   "AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  315 

for  health  promotion  through  cooperation  of  employ- 
ers and  employees  with  public  agencies.  A  definite  stimu- 
lus to  the  collection  of  facts  as  to  the  causes  of  ill 
health  among  wage-earners  is  being  given,  and  as  the 
conditions  are  laid  bare  new  directions  for  more  effect- 
ive disease  prevention  are  being  pointed  out.  The  fact 
that  the  national  Public  Health  Service  has  undertaken 
the  study  of  economic  conditions  in  relation  to  health 
is  a  significant  indication  of  the  new  point  of  view. 

To  appreciate  fully  the  condition  of  labor  in  Ameri- 
can industry  one  must  be  given  a  view  of  the  factors 
that  affect  the  physical  efficiency  and  well-being  of 
wage-earners  and  their  families.  Altho\jaattention  has 
been  directed  in  a  scientific  manner  only  in  recent  years 
to  the  problem  of  the  wage-earner's  health,  suffi- 
cient data  have  been  obtained  to  indicate  in  a  general 
way  what  these  factors  are  and  to  measure,  with  an 
approximate  degree  of  accuracy,  their  influence.  It 
is  the  purpose  in  the  following  pages  to  present  some 
of  the  more  definite  and  authoritative  of  these  data.^ 

The  Prevalence  of  Sickness  "Among  Wage-Earners 

An  unemployment  survey  made  by  the  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Company  in  conjunction  with  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  of  the  Federal  Government,  during 
191 5,    and    covering    over    a    million    wage-earners    in 

*  The  material  in  this  chapter  is  drawn  largely  from  the  collection  of  data 
relating  to  the  health  of  wage-workers  and  their  families  made  by  B.  S.  Warren, 
Surgeon,  and  Edgar  Sydenstricker,  Public  Health  Statistician,  United  States 
Public  Health  Service,  published  in  their  recent  bulletin  on  "Health  Insurance — 
Its  Relation  to  the  Public  Health."  (United  States  Public  Health  Service: 
Public  Health  Bulletin  No.  76,  March.  1916,  pp.  6-37.) 


3i6  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

selected  cities  of  the  United  States,  developed  the  fact 
that  II  per  cent,  of  the  unemployment  was  caused  by 
sickness  or  accident  disability.  Over  i  per  cent.  (1.2) 
of  all  the  wage-earners  canvassed  were  found  to  be 
unable  to  retain  their  employment  on  account  of  illness. 
This  rate  was  very  similar  to  the  disability  records  of 
members  of  trade  unions  in  the  states  of  New  York 
and  Massachusetts,  as  furnished  by  unemployment 
reports  for  a  series  of  years  in  each  state. ^  A  sick- 
ness survey  of  7,638  families  during  one  week  of  Sep- 
tember, 1916,  in  Rochester,  New  York,  made  by  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  afforded  a  more 
comprehensive  and  detailed  picture  of  the  extent  of  ill 
health  among  the  industrial  population  of  a  single  local- 
ity. Of  the  34,490  persons  in  the  families  surveyed, 
798  were  sick,  or  2.2,  per  cent.  The  following  tabula- 
tion classifies  the  sick  persons  by  the  extent  of  disability 
and  by  sex :  ^ 

Persons  Males  FemaUs 

r * »  , ' ^  , ^ , 

Per  Per  Per 

cent.  cent.  cent 

Extent  of  Disability             Number     of  Number  of  Number  of 

total  total  total 

All    classes 798       100.0  356  100.0  442  100.0 

Unable  to  work 661         82.8  297  83.4  364  82.4 

In    bed        220         27.6  88  24.7  132  29.9 

At   home 135          16.9  47  13.2  88  19.9 

In    hospital         85         10.7  41  11.5  44  10.0 

Up  and  about 441          55.2  209  58.7  232  52.5 

Able  to   work        70           8.8  32  9.0  38  8.6 

Ability  to  work  not  specified    .  .       67           8.4  27  7.6  40  9.0 

'  A  collection  of  some  of  the  available  statistics  of  disability  has  been  made 
by  B.  S.  Warren,  Surgeon,  and  Edgar  Sydenstricker,  Public  Health  Statistician, 
United  States  Public  Health  Service,  in  a  recent  paper  on  "Statistics  of  Dis- 
ability" in  the  Public  Health  Reports  of  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service 
for  April  23,  1916. 

*  A  Community  Sickness  Survey  of  Rochester,  New  York,  by  Lee  K.  Frankel, 
Ph.D.,  Sixth  Vice-President,  and  Louis  K,  Dublin,  Ph.D.,  Statistician,  of  the 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  317 

Over  19  per  cent,  of  the  sick  persons  were  found  to 
have  been  ill  between  one  year  and  three  years,  and 
nearly  27  per  cent,  had  been  disabled  by  sickness  for 
over  three  years.  The  annual  loss  in  wages  from  sick- 
ness of  male  employees  alone  in  Rochester  was  estimated 
on  the  basis  of  this  survey  to  be  nearly  $1,300,000,  in 
addition  to  the  cost  of  medical  care,  drugs,  nursing  and 
the  less  measurable  but  probably  greater  cost  of  loss  in 
efficiency  and  the  effects  on  the  families  of  disabled 
wage-earners. 

The  Greater  Prevalence  of  Disease  Among  Industrial 
Workers. — The  constantly  increasing  mass  of  evidence 
on  the  question  of  national  health,  as  well  as  of  the 
health  of  local  populations,  points  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  industrial  worker  is  more  subject  to  sickness  and 
has  a  smaller  chance  of  living  the  normal  span  of  years 
than  the  worker  in  other  pursuits  and  than  other  mem- 
bers of  the  population.  It  suggests  that,  as  the  result 
of  these  factors,  the  "human  scrap  heap  of  industry"  is 
not  an  imagined  thing,  but  is  a  very  real  and  constant 
loss  of  industrial  efficiency  and  waste  of  life  and 
health  that  ought  to  be  prevented. 

Mortality  statistics  in  the  United  States  indicate 
that  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  prevalence  of 
certain  wasteful  causes  of  death  between  occupied  males 
in  agricultural  pursuits  and  in  industrial  trades  and  call- 
ings. A  recent  analysis  of  the  mortality  statistics  of 
210,507  males  engaged  in  140  occupations  in  the  regis- 
tration area  of  the  United  States  exhibits  in  a  striking 


J>^- 


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%;f-rT  1  ^hrTT"-  T  TronnTrro  ^  \gsi  -*TSTr  1  ijer  -15=11:.  if  4ie'  -ajy^s. 
-    'nr'^'rnsane  -oasis'    nrfiirip  Lyjiimd. 

-ijia    3im    Jii-utes.    r^^mTT^i^:!^l^■    Jintir— —     

Deai-HT    smi    iemia.       Jir    -neamactsni.    amncania.  •-t. 

■    jTifM    -ti^-«jip  jg  jajwt  iKsutsa  nutc  ''J   3<^ar3  ar»  :iu  i 

inm    ■*  lejeaer^aiTWi    iiaeaaes"    nrftirft*    jsnccr,    iianerea,    ar 
.    ..-      ..  --:^s.    ""-rrtier    •-—•- ii;.t  it-t    tiaeaaes^      i.^ST      ^flrtiTTia.     :=rr3naa 
jr^-r    '  rrner    iw--   iIe^-  and   Srrgttr'  i   'lafsse.      T'aera  remain  31  sut 

Census  ::assBiic2r^nn    /  ■■  ~-n*n  ler-rnmna   inoeaiiicatK.  "  inter-  -r^anira*- 

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jna  -xmBiii!  .  -         ...    •:    v -n   fli/iw<i.      .'    ..  lore. 


IX   AMERICAS   INDUSTRIES  sir, 

analysis  of  the  Census  registTZtion  area  statistics.  In 
a  recent  address.  President  E.  E.  Rittenboase  of  the 
Life  Extension  Institute  asserted  tha:  vt  -  — ^'ir. 
records   indicated   a  marked  decline   i'  -    :f 

American  workers  to  withstand  the  cc  :   r     1- 

em  hfe.  This  was  manifested  in  zr-  r  :--.'.  i-y 
increase  in  the  death  rate  from  the  breaking  down  of 
the  heart,  arteries,  kidneys,  and  the  nervous  and  diges- 
tive systems,  which  diseases,  he  stated,  are  reaching 
down  into  middle  Ufe  and  apparently  increasing  there 
and  at  all  ages.  Of  the  4io,<xx)  hves  ammaUy  destroyed 
by  these  "old  age"  diseases,  he  point^i  out,  6o,cxx)  occur 
under  the  age  of  40:  105,000  occur  between  die  ages  of 
40  and  60,  and  245,000  above  the  age  of  60.  ^n-^zz.'"''" 
all   of   these    diseases,    as    Mr.    RinerJiiuit    r  :, 

should  come  in  the  group  above  60  years,  ar.i  zst-t 
slowly  developing  afflictions  are  not  only  rri  :  _-  :;.i 
working,  productive  period  of  life,  but  als'j  lov.cr  iht 
capacity  of  the  indi^^dual,  and  are  re?pcr::sfb1e  in  large 
measure    for    accidents,    damage  i    rr  :^  -      spoiled 

goods,  and  other  costly  errors.  The  records,  he  stated, 
show  that  in  thirty  years  the  ~  :-:i'::  :*- :~  :"rre 
diseases  has  nearly  doubled.  In  a  gr:  j:  : :  -  :  ::•:.- 
000  men  and  boy  workers  increases  ::.  .7  --i.  n.e 
were  noted  a=  follows:  Apoplexy  and  nervous  system. 
19  per  cent.:  heart,  29  per  cent.:  kidney  and  urinary 
system,  43  per  cent. ;  liver  and  digestive  system,  34  per 
cent 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  estimate  the  eccHioimc  loss 
to  the  individual  or  to  industrv  or  to  the  nation  of  this 


320  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

greater  prevalence  of  ill  health  among  the  industrial 
population.  A  number  of  estimates  have  been  hazarded. 
The  most  recent,  and  perhaps  the  most  conservative,  of 
these  estimates  was  that  based  upon  the  study  of  the 
records  of  nearly  a  million  wage-earners  and  made 
for  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations.^ 
This  estimate  was  that  the  average  wage-earner  loses 
about  nine  days  on  account  of  sickness  every  year. 
While  the  more  complete  statistics  that  are  now  being 
compiled  may  cause  some  revision  of  this  estimate,  it 
is  interesting  to  note  that  it  very  nearly  coincides  with 
the  German  and  English  figures  for  over  26,000,000 
industrial  workers,  which  show  an  average  of  eight  to 
nine  days  of  illness  per  year  through  a  number  of  years. 
The  same  estimate,  putting  the  daily  wage  at  $2  and 
the  cost  of  medical  attention  at  $1  per  day,  places  the 
annual  loss  to  30,000,000  wage-earners  on  account  of 
the  nine  days  of  sickness  at  over  $8-00,000,000.  This 
leaves  out  of  consideration  the  losses  due  to  death  and 
to  decrease  in  efficiency  which  follows  illness.  It  also 
leaves  out  of  consideration  the  effect  upon  the  family 
when  the  breadwinner  is  disabled. 

These  figures,  impressive  as  they  are,  but  inadequately 
afford  a  true  conception  of  the  problem  of  sickness 
among  wage-earners;  they  merely  give  an  idea  of  its 
magnitude.  To  be  properly  appreciated  they  must  be 
interpreted  in  terms  of  human  suffering.  "Any  one 
living  or  moving  among  the  lower  grades  of  the  wage- 
earners,"    to   borrow    the    graphic    language    of    Sidney 

'  Final   Report  of  the  Commission  on   Industrial   Relations,   1915. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  321 

and  Beatrice  Webb,  "becomes  only  too  painfully  aware 
of  the  perpetual  lack  of  health,  and  frequent  disabling 
sickness  all  around  him.  He  sees  infants  and  children, 
men  and  women,  alike  suffering  from  what  seems  to 
be  an  unending  round  of  ailments  of  one  sort  or 
another  ...  to  be  periodically  broken  into  by 
serious  disease,  and  cut  short  by  premature  death."  * 
Sickness  is  so  indissolubly  bound  up  with  the  wage- 
worker's  bad  housing  and  poor  and  insufficient  diet,  the 
restriction  of  his  natural  desires  for  normal  self-expres- 
sion, the  worry,  mental  depression,  discouragement,  and 
destroyed  efficiency  that  accompany  impaired  health  and 
economic  uncertainty  and  disadvantage,  that  it  can  not 
be  comprehended  fully  by  the  presentation  of  cold  sta- 
tistics. 

Among  the  more  important  economic  factors  which 
affect  the  health  of  the  wage-working  population  may 
be  mentioned  the  following: 

1.  The  occupational  hazards  of  disease. 

2.  Irregularity  of  employment. 

3.  Unhealthful  conditions  of  living. 

4.  The  employment  of  women,  particularly  married 
women,  in  industry  under  modern  conditions  of  work. 

Occupational  Disease  Hazards 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  conditions  in  mod- 
ern industry  are  responsible  for  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  workingman's  ill  health.  How  far  other 
conditions,    such   as   character   of   diet   and   home   and 

*Thc  Prevention  of  Destitution,  p.  16, 


322  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

community  environment,  are  predisposing  or  aggravating 
factors  in  "occupational"  diseases,  is  impossible  of  exact 
determination.  There  are,  however,  certain  specific 
substances  and  conditions  in  places  of  employment  and 
certain  conditions  of  employment  which  undoubtedly 
have  harmful  effects  upon  the  health  of  many  workers. 
These  facts  are  becoming  widely  recognized  in  the 
enactment  of  legislation  intended  to  decrease  these 
health  hazards. 

A  large  number  of  diseases  have  been  traced  more 
or  less  directly  to  the  occupation.  The  tendency,  how- 
ever, in  recent  years  has  been  to  define  these  diseases 
as  "industrial"  rather  than  as  "occupational."  For,  as 
defined  in  a  memorial  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  a  committee  of  experts  in  1910,  industrial 
diseases  are  the  "morbid  results  of  occupational  activity 
traceable  to  specific  causes  and  labor  conditions,  and 
followed  by  more  or  less  extended  incapacity  for 
work."  ^  It  is  not  practicable  to  give  here  a  list  of  the 
industrial  diseases  or  to  enumerate  the  harmful  sub- 
stances or  conditions  which  cause  them ;  but  the  follow- 
ing brief  outline  of  a  classification  according  to  special 
causes  suggests  some  idea  of  their  extent  and  preva- 
lence : '" 

A.  Workers  in  harmful  substances :  Metals,  dusts, 
gases,  vapors,  and  fumes. 

B.  Workers  under  harmful  conditions:  Heat,  mois- 
ture, cold,  confined  air  (bad  ventilation),  overcrowding, 

•American  Labor  Ix;gislation  Review,  Vol.  i,  No.   1,  p.   125. 
"U.  S.  Public  Health  Service:     Public  Health  P>ullctin  76.  p.  8. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  323 

comprest  air,  excessive  light,  strains  of  muscles,  nerves, 
or  special  senses,  and  the  like. 

Harmful  Substances:  Metals,  dusts,  gases,  vapors, 
and  fumes. — The  character  and  to  some  degree  the  ex- 
tent of  the  disease  hazard  caused  by  poisons,  gases, 
fumes,  dusts,  etc.,  in  certain  occupations,  have  been 
shown  in  several  important  investigations  made  in  recent 
years  by  the  Federal  and  State  Governments  and  in 
recent  contributions  to  the  literature  on  occupational 
diseases  and  hazards."  Phosphorus,  lead,  mercury,  and 
arsenic  poisonings  are  but  familiar  examples;  there  are 
so  many  diseases  that  have  been  found  to  result  from 
poisons  which  affect  workers  in  scores  of  occupations 
that  "there  is  scarcely  any  one  line  of  modern  manufac- 
ture which  is  free  from  the  dangers  of  industrial  poison- 
ing."  '' 

Harmful  Conditions  in  Places  of  Employment. — In 
spite  of  the  movement  for  better  conditions  in  factories, 
stores,  and  mills,  it  appears  from  recent  reports  that  a 

"  Reference  is  especially  made  to  the  following  literature  on  the  subject  of 
occupational  diseases  which  treat  of  specific  occupations  and  occupational  hazards: 
Henry  Japp:  Caisson  Disease  and  Its  Prevention,  Transactions  of  the  Fifteenth 
International  Congress  on  Hygiene  and  Demography,  Vol.  iii.  Part  II,  p.  639; 
John  B.  Andrews:  Phosphorus  Poisoning  in  the  Match  Industry  of  the  United 
States,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Bulletin  No.  86;  Mrs.  L.  W.  Bates:  Mercury 
Poisoning  in  the  Industries  of  New  York  City;  C.  T.  Graham-Rogers:  Ninth 
Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Appendix  II,  pp.  68-91 
(calico  print  industry  and  potteries),  and  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York 
Commissioner  of  Labor,  Appendix  II,  pp.  62-111  (phosphorus  match  industry); 
Emery  R.  Hayhurst:  Report  of  Illinois  Commission  on  Occupational  Diseases, 
1911,  pp.  49-84  (investigation  of  brass  manufacturing  industry  in  Chicago); 
Alice  Hamilton:  White  Lead  Industry  in  the  United  States,  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Labor  Bulletin  No.  95,  pp.  189-259;  Report  on  Investigations  of  the  Lead 
Troubles  in  Illinois  from  the  Hygienic  Standpoint,  in  report  of  the  Illinois  Com- 
mission on  Occupational  Diseases,  1911,  pp.  21-49;  Lead  Poisoning  in  the  Smelt- 
ing and  Refining  of  Lead,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  Bulletin  No.  141. 

^2 1.  M.  Rubtnow:  Social  Insurance,  p.  212.  See  also  Bulletins  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Nos.  S6  and  100,  for  groups  of  industrial 
poisons. 


324  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

very  large  proportion  of  the  industrial  establishments 
in  this  country  are  not  free  from  unhygienic  conditions. 
The  report  of  the  New  York  Factory  Investigating 
Commission  of  its  extensive  examination  of  establish-^ 
ments  in  the  State  of  New  York  pointed  out  that  while 
in  many  of  the  establishments  the  conditions  were  found 
to  be  excellent  and  the  managements  exercised  a  proper 
care  over  the  health  of  their  employees,  "unfortunately 
such  model  establishments  and  such  enlightened  employ- 
ers are  in  the  minority,"  and  "investigations  in  a  -great 
number  of  factories  throughout  the  State  have  revealed 
much  that  is  deplorable/^  The  sanitary  survey  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  so  far  as  its  results  have  been 
published,  indicated  that  over  50  per  cent,  of  all  of  the 
establishments  in  the  State  were  in  "poor"  or  "bad" 
condition."'  The  recent  survey  of  industrial  health  haz- 
ards in  establishments  in  Ohio  found  that  exposure 
to  certain  hazards  classified  as  "bad,"  from  the  stand- 
point of  sanitation  and  hygiene,  existed  in  a  very  con- 
siderable  proportion   of   establishments."     The    follow- 

13  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Commission;  Second  Report,  1913,  Vol. 
ii,  Report  of  Dr.  George  M.  Price,  Director  of  Investigation,  p.  416.  Dr.  Price 
Baid: 

"Unfortunately,  such  model  establishments  and  such  enlightened  employers 
are  in  the  minority,  as  by  far  the  greater  number  of  employers  have  not  yet 
awakened  to  the  importance  of  improving  conditions  of  labor.  Investigations 
in  a  great  number  of  factories  throughout  the  State  have  revealed  much  that  is 
deplorable.  In  the  production  of  commodities,  great  economy  must  needs  be 
practised  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  many 
employers  to  economize  not  only  in  matters  of  legitimate  expense,  but  also  in 
space,  light,  air,  and  certain  other  safeguards  to  the  health  and  lives  of  the 
workers.  Such  false  economy  inevitably  injures  the  employer  and  imperils  the 
health  and  lives  of  his  employees." 

""  Louisiana   State  Board  of  Health;  Quarterly  Bulletin,  Mar.    1,  1914. 

"  E.  K.  Hayhurst,  M.  D. :  A  Survey  of  Industrial  Health  Hazards  and  Occu- 
pational Diseases  in  Ohio,  Ohio  State  Board  of  Health,  1915,  p.  118.  Included 
in  "infections,"  in  the  above  recapitulation,  are  particularly  the  dangers  from 
promiscuous  spitting  upon  floors  in  work-places  by  persons  who  are  employed 
without  physical  examination  and  who  work  without  medical  supervision  (p.  119), 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


325 


ing  recapitulation  of  various  health  hazards  shows  the 
percentage  of  work  places  where  the  exposure  was 
classified  as  "bad:" 


Per  cent,  of 

Per  cent,  of 

work  places 

work  places 

where  ex- 

where ex- 

Specific  Health 

posure  to 

Specific  Health       posure  to 

Hazard 

health 

Hazard                     health 

hazard 

hazard 

was  found 

was  found 

to  be  "bad" 

to   be    "bad" 

Dust 

16 

Heat 4 

Dirt 

21 

Cold 2 

Dampness.. 

1 

Infections      (  c  0  m  - 

Darkness   . . 

10 

municable  diseases)       41 

Air      

18 

Poisons      19 

Sanitary  surveys  made  for  the  Federal  Commission 
on  Industrial  Relations  by  the  United  States  Public 
Health  Service  in  10  typical  industries  in  seven  differ- 
ent States  showed  that  conditions  were  about  the  same 
as  those  reported  for  New  York,  Louisiana,  and  Ohio.^^ 
These  conditions  are  probably  typical  of  most  indus- 
trial localities  in  the  United  States,  and  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  much  remains  to  be  done  before  the 
industrial  disease  hazards  due  to  these  conditions  are 
reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Working  Conditions  Which  Cause  Excessive  Fatigue. 
— In  addition  to  industrial  poisons  and  other  insanitary 
conditions  in  places  of  work,  there  are  certain  condi- 
tions in  modern  industry  which  cause  excessive  fatigue. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  long  hours,  the  piece- 
work system,  and  the  increasing  use  of  machine  meth- 
ods.    Work  performed  by  any  of  the  body  cells  pro- 

■•5  The  10  industries  surveyed  were  in  the  following  States:  Massachusetts, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Minnesota.  U.  S. 
Public  Health  Service;  Public  Health  Bulletin  No.  76,  p.  10, 


326  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

duces  waste  products  and  other  changes  in  those  cells. 
Up  to  a  certain  limit  work,  with  the  resulting  cell 
changes,  is  beneficial  and  improves  the  physical  condi- 
tion; but  when  work  is  excessive,  too  prolonged,  or  too 
fast,  the  waste  products  begin  to  accumulate,  the  cells 
become  exhausted,  the  physiologic  changes  fail  to  occur, 
and  if  not  properly  rested  the  cells  are  damaged. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  clearly  recognized 
that  fatigue  is  a  health  hazard  in  industry.  This  is 
evidenced  by  a  series  of  court  decisions  in  the  last 
few  years  upholding  the  constitutionality  of  laws  pro- 
hibiting excessive  hours  of  work  for  women  in  indus- 
try. The  basis  of  these  decisions  was  the  effects  of  long 
hours  upon  health. ^^  There  is  also  a  marked  tendency 
on  the  part  of  employers  to  realize  these  effects  "  and 
to  adopt  a  shorter  working  day  and  on  the  part  of  labor 
unions  to  insist  upon  an  eight-hour  day  and  a  six-day- 
week  standard. 

"  The  statement  of  Justice  Ingraham  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  New  York, 
in  the  case  of  The  People  v.  The  Charles  Schweinler  Press  explained  in  some 
detail  the  reason  why  the  court  reversed  a  former  decision  on  a  similar  case. 
This  reason  was  stated  to  be  the  fact  that  in  the  former  decision  no  definite 
facts  as  to  the  effects  of  night  work  upon  the  health  of  women  were  presented, 
whereas  in  the  latter  case  the  court  had  before  it  the  results  of  various  investi- 
gations and  opinions  of  medical  and  other  experts.  See  also  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  October  term,  1907,  Curt  Miller  v.  State  of  Oregon;  Ritchie 
&  Company  v.  Wayman,  244  Illinois,  509  (1910).  For  a  review  of  judicial 
decisions  dealing  with  hours  of  labor  for  adult  men,  see  Bulletin  of  the  New 
York  State  Department  of  Labor,  No.  46,  March,  1911. 

''  An  opinion  as  to  these  effects  is  seen  in  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
stockholders  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  consising  of  five  prominent 
stockholders,  submitted  in  April,  1912,  which  stated:  "Whether  viewed  from 
the  physical,  social,  or  moral  point  of  view,  we  believe  that  the  seven-day  week 
is  detrimental  to  those  engaged  in  it.  .  .  .  Wc  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  12- 
hour  day  of  labor  followed  continuously  by  any  group  of  men  for  any  considerable 
/number  of  years  means  a  decreasing  of  the  eflRciency  and  lessening  of  the  vigor 
and  virility  of  such  men."  Quoted  from  original  report  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  in  Report  on  Conditions  of  Employment  in 
the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  161.  (S.  Doc;  No.  110,  62d  Cong., 
1st  sess.) 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  327 

The  overstrain  incident  to  the  piece-work  system  has 
been  found  by  a  number  of  investigations  to  be  dele- 
terious to  the  workers'  health.  Dr.  A.  J.  Lanza,  who 
made  several  physical  examinations  of  shovelers  in  the 
zinc  mines  of  the  Joplin  district,   Missouri,   states: 

"They  had  shoveled  from  two  to  six  years;  some 
had  started  when  18  or  19  years  of  age.  Now  they 
could  shovel  only  35  or  40  cans,  where  formerly  they 
could  shovel  60  to  70  and  upward.  Hard,  constant 
work  had  broken  these  men  down,  so  that  at  the  ages 
of  22  to  30  they  were  already  on  the  down  grade.  .  .  . 
Working  thus  at  their  full  earning  capacity  day  in  and 
day  out,  it  is  not  surprizing  that,  with  the  added  expos- 
ure to  rock  dust,  these  men  should  contract  tuberculosis 
to  an  excessive  degree.  Especially  must  this  be  true 
when  they  start  in  while  under  age  and  before  their 
bodies  have  fully  developed."  ^^ 

The  physical  examinations  of  garment  workers  in 
New  York  City  conducted  by  the  United  States  Public 
Health  Service,  showed  that  overstrain  was  more  preva- 
lent in  occupations  where  wages  are  paid  on  a  piece 
basis  than  in  occupations  where  wages  are  paid  on  a  week 
or  other  time  basis. ^' 

With  the  increased  use  of  machinery  another  serious 
health  hazard  has  appeared.  This  is  the  so-called  "new 
strain"  in  modern  industrial  methods.     In  the  opinion 

*8  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,  Technical  Paper  105:  Pulmonary  Diseases  Among 
Miners  in  the  Joplin  District,  Missouri,  and  its  Relation  to  Rock  Dust  in  the 
Mines.  A  Preliminary  Report,  by  A.  J.  Lanza  and  Edwin  Higgins,  1915,  pp. 
38-39. 

i^U.  S.  Public  Health  Service.  Public  Health  Bulletin  No.  71,  May,  1915; 
Studies  in  Vocational  Diseases — I.  The  Health  of  Garment  Workers,  by  J.  W. 
Schereschewsky,  Surgeon  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service,  p.  79. 


328  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  many  observers  and  authorities,^*  it  is  the  fatiguing 
effects  upon  the  worker  of  mechanical  processes  and  of 
the  increasingly  mechanical  character  of  his  work.  The 
effects  of  the  greater  speed  made  possible  by  machine 
methods  are  frequently  aggravated  by  the  speeding- 
up  practises  in  many  establishments.  The  extreme  spe- 
cialization in  the  modern  factory  has  resulted  in  a 
monotony  of  attention  and  muscular  action  that  im- 
poses a  condition  of  permanent  strain  upon  one  set  of 
nerve  centers  or  muscles.  Noise  and  mechanical  rhythm 
have  been  found  to  produce  injurious  effects  upon  the 
nervous  system  and  special  senses. 

These  occupational  hazards  are  causing  disease;  just 
how  much,  investigators  have  been  unable  to  determine, 
but  sufficient  research  has  been  made  to  know  that  they 
are  prominent  factors.  The  extent  of  their  influence 
is  indicated  by  the  morbidity  and  mortality  rates  among 
workers  according  to  occupation. 

Morbidity  According  to  Occupation. — All  records  of 
morbidity  according  to  occupation  indicate  that  the 
health  hazard  is  greater  in  some  occupations  than  in 
others.  Occupation  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  three 
variables  by  life  insurance  companies  in  the  United 
States  in  fixing  their  rates  for  health  insurance ;  the 
other  variables  are  age  and  sex.  The  records  of  Euro- 
pean sickness  insurance  societies  and  systems  afford 
abundant  evidence  of  the  occupational  differences  in 
health  hazard.     Oflicial   records   for   1914  of  the  time 

S'CoUlmark:  FadRuo  and  Rfflcicncy,  Part  T,  piv  43-S9,  and  Part  TI,  pp.  26-52. 
In  this  volume  are  cnllcrted  much  of  the  i)rincii>al  authoritative  data  from 
European,  British,  and  American  publications  bearing  on  this  point. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  329 

lost  on  account  of  sickness  by  over  12,000  male  office 
employees  of  the  Federal  Government  in  Washington 
show  an  average  of  4.82  days.  This  rate  is  in  sharp 
contrast  to  an  average  of  11.6  days  lost  during  1913 
on  account  of  sickness  by  employees  of  a  large  rail- 
road system  in  the  United  States,  whose  occupations 
were  very  different  from  those  of  the  Government  em- 
ployees. Sickness  statistics  for  5,600  employees  of  a 
large  steel  company  in  Ohio  illustrate  the  differences 
in  health  hazard,  according  to  occupation,  in  a  single 
establishment.  The  average  of  all  its  employees  sick 
during  a  period  of  38  months  was  8.2  per  cent.,  as 
compared  with  2.37  per  cent,  of  the  electrical  workers 
and  13.4  per  cent,  of  the  blast-furnace  workers.^^ 

Mortality  According  to  Occupation. — Occupational 
health  hazards  are  indicated  not  only  by  statistics  of 
morbidity,  but  also  by  statistics  of  mortality.  The 
German  and  Austrian  records  already  referred  to  fur- 

"  E.  R.  Hayhurst,  M.  D. :  A  Survey  of  Industrial  Health  Hazards  and  Occu- 
pational  Diseases  in  Ohio,   the  Ohio   State  Board  of  Health,   1915,  p.  58. 

The  statistics  for  some  of  the  principal  occupations  in  this  steel  plant  are  sum- 
marized in  the  following  tabulation.  It  should  be  noted  that  accidents  and 
venereal  diseases  were  excluded  from  the  statistics  of  sickness,  as  well  as  all 
cases  where  the  illness  was  less  than  a  week  in  duration.  Sanitary  conditions 
in  this  plant  were  pronounced  to  be  exceptionally  good. 

AVERAGE    PER    CENT.    OF    EMPLOYEES    OF    A    STEEL    MILL    SICK 

DURING  A  PERIOD  OF  THREE  YEARS,  1911-1913,  BY 

OCCUPATIONS:     MALES 

Average  Average 

Departments  per  cent.  Departments  per  cent, 

sick  sick 

Electrical         2.37  Pipe   mill         9.18 

Bricklayers      3.66  Shelf   mills 9.56 

Open  hearth 4.81  Mechanical      10.09 

Yard  labor      6.13  Blast  furnaces       ..      ..  13.41 


330  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

nish  ample  evidence  of  greater  mortality  m  certain 
occupations  than  in  others.  For  the  purpose  of  com- 
paring occupational  health  hazards  the  tuberculosis 
death  rate  is  often  used.  It  is  probably  the  best  single 
indicator  we  have  for  this  purpose.  The  census  mor- 
tality statistics  for  1909  showed  that  for  all  occupations 
reported,  tuberculosis  caused  14.8  per  cent,  of  all  deaths 
among  males,  as  compared  with  6.6  per  cent,  of  all 
deaths  among  farmers,  planters,  and  overseers,  28.6 
per  cent,  among  marble  and  stone  cutters,  and  29.2  per 
cent,  among  printers,  lithographers,  and  pressmen. 
These  statistics  do  not  vary  greatly  from  the  actuarial 
experience  of  the  Prudential  Life  Insurance  Company,^^ 
as  summarized  in  the  tabulation  on  p.  331. 

Irregularity  of  Employment  and  Health 

The  actual  effects  of  irregular  employment  upon  the 
health  of  workers,  as  observed  by  physicians  and  stu- 
dents of  industrial  conditions,  are  so  familiar  that  they 
need  not  be  discust  here  at  any  length.  The  very 
fact  that  the  income  of  a  worker  is  uncertain  has 
been  found  to  be  a  cause  of  impaired  physical  effi- 
ciency. The  detailed  examination  of  male  garment 
workers  in  New  York  City,  by  Schereschewsky,  afforded 
the  basis  for  the  following  conclusion :  ^^ 

"During  the  busy  season  the  workers  drive  themselves 

**  Frederick  L.  Hoffman:  Industrial  Accidents  and  Trade  Diseases  in  the 
United  States.  Transactions  of  the  Fifteenth  International  ConRrcss  on  Hygiene 
and  Demography,  Washington,  D.  C,  1912,  Vol.  i.  Part  II,  p.  802. 

''J.  W.  Schereschewsky:  Some  Physical  Characteristics  of  Male  Garment 
Workers  of  the  Cloak  and  Suit  Trades,  Based  Upon  2,107  Physical  Examinations 
Made  in  New  York,  N.  Y.     American  Journal  of  Public  Health,  July,  1915. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  331 

PROPORTIONATE     MORTALITY     FROM     TUBERCULOSIS     OF     THE 

LUNGS,     1907-1910,     OF     OCCUPIED     MALES     IN     CERTAIN 

OCCUPATIONS,  BY  SPECIFIED  AGE  PERIODS. 

Per  cent. 

OcCUPATIOhf 

All  occupied  males 

Farmers 

Tailors      

Carpenters       

Masons 

Bakers      

Iron  and  steel  workers 

Painters 

Cigar  makers 

Machinists        

Textile  workers     . . 

Bartenders      

Plumbers 

Glass  workers 

Stone  workers 

Clerks       

Printers 

at  top  speed  in  order  to  earn  as  much  money  as  possi- 
ble, to  tide  them  over  the  slack  seasons,  while,  during 
the  dull  periods,  they  are  without  sufficient  occupation 
to  keep  up  their  interest.  Such  conditions  are  produc- 
tive of  considerable  mental  stress,  the  worker  during 
the  busy  season  overdriving  himself  and  spending  the 
slack  season  in  wondering  if  work  will  be  forthcoming 
in  the  future.  This  condition  of  affairs  is  reflected 
in  the  relatively  large  number  of  operators  found  to  be 
distinctly  neurasthenic  or  of  neurasthenic  tendency." 

Similar  conclusions  were  indicated  by   Schwab's   in- 
vestigation of  garment  workers  in  St.  Louis.^* 

*■•  Sidney   L.    Schwab:    Neurasthenia   Among   Garment   Workers.      American 
Labor  Legislation  Review   (January,  1911),  p.  27, 


15  years 

15  to  24 

25  to  44 

and  over 

years 

years 

21.4 

34.3 

37.7 

9.9 

26.9 

32.1 

15.2 

52.0 

47.5 

15.6 

32.0 

38.4 

17.5 

31.1 

39.0 

19.2 

24.1 

37.2 

19.3 

27.9 

29.7 

23.3 

34.7 

39.2 

26.3 

54.8 

45.0 

27.0 

39.3 

40.0 

27.3 

38.6 

45.5 

30.7 

34.1 

35.7 

32.6 

32.8 

41.7 

32.9 

38.5 

48.1 

.  33.5 

33.3 

47.8 

35.5 

42.4 

44.8 

37.7 

48.4 

48.6 

332  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

The  effects  of  irregular  employment  are  not  limited 
to  the  physical  impairment  caused  by  worry  and  periodic 
overdriving.  The  lessened  opportunity  to  earn  wages, 
caused  by  irregular  employment  or  by  physical  dis- 
ability, means  a  smaller  income  and  therefore  a  less- 
ened ability  to  maintain  a  healthful  standard  of  living. 
The  earnings  of  workers  whose  rates  of  pay  would 
be  adequate  to  provide  for  healthful  conditions  of  living 
if  they  could  work  steadily,  are  often  so  reduced  by 
irregular  employment  that  a  condition  of  poverty  is 
the  result.  Data  obtained  in  connection  with  the  physi- 
cal examination  of  male  garment  workers  in  New  York 
City,  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made,  clearly 
indicated  "that  the  greatest  number  of  poorly  nourished, 
anemic,  tuberculous  workers  in  an  extremely  seasonal 
industry  were  in  that  group  composed  of  the  lowest 
paid  and  the  least  regularly  employed."  "^^  In  many 
instances  the  unemployed  worker  is  forced  into  a 
lower  level  of  occupation.  The  unemployed  worker 
is  likely  to  take  any  job  that  he  can  get,  in 
order  to  provide  for  the  bare  necessities  of  life,  and 
the   tendency   is    for   him   to   drift   into   the    "floating" 


^^  Health  of  Garment  Workers — The  Relation  of  Economic  Status  to 
Health.  By  B.  S.  Warren,  Surgeon,  and  Edgar  Sydenstrickcr,  I'ublic  Health 
Statistician,  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service,  with  an  introduction  by  J.  W. 
Schereschewsky,  Surgeon,  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service.  Public  Health  Reports, 
May  26,  1916,  p.  1305.  (Reprint  No.  341,  p.  10.)  "It  is  evident,"  say  these 
authors,  "that  the  competition  among  workers  in  this  industry  is  great,  and 
that  a  process  of  selection  of  those  who  work  more  regularly  than  others  is 
continually  in  process.  How  far  efficiency,  as  measured  by  physical  condition 
of  the  worker,  plays  a  part  can  not,  of  course  be  definitely  stated.  Nor  can 
it  be  determined  with  any  degree  of  exactness  whether  inefficiency  is  more 
of  a  cause  than  an  effect  of  the  unemployment  of  any  individual  worker. 
The  fact,  however,  is  not  without  significance  that  the  workers  in  the  lowest 
income  group  were  at  the  same  time  in  poorer  physical  condition  and  were 
less  regularly  employed  than  the  workers  in  the   higher  income  groups."    _  . 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  333 

or  "casual"  labor  class.  The  casual  laborers  at  the 
docks  in  New  York  City  are  composed  largely  of  work- 
ers who  have  gradually  lost  their  economic  status  in 
industry,  and  dock  workers  themselves  continue  to  slip 
down  in  the  industrial  scale  until  they  reach  the  class  of 
"shenangoes,"  the  down-and-out  longshoremen  who  are 
capable  of  only  light  work,  and  who  finally  become 
burdens  upon  public  and  private  charity.  According 
to  testimony  before  the  United  States  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations,  most  of  the  7,000  applicants  for 
work  at  the  San  Francisco  Cooperative  Employment 
Bureau  were  of  the  casual  labor  class,  and  one-half 
of  the  total  number  of  applicants  were  found  to  be 
incapacitated  for  work,  on  account  of  poor  nutrition, 
disease,  and  exposure."^  The  records  of  many  investi- 
gators of  the  unemployed  abound  with  similar  instances. 
Where  the  wage-worker  is  the  breadwinner  of  a  fam- 
ily, the  loss  of  his  earnings  occasioned  by  irregular  em- 
ployment, or  by  his  drop  into  a  poorer-paid  occupation, 
can  not  but  have  serious  effects  upon  the  health  of  the 
family.  Either  the  family  is  forced  into  that  class 
whose  income  is  insufficient  to  maintain  a  healthful 
standard  of  living,  or  the  wife  and  children  are  com- 
pelled to  become  wage-earners  in  order  to  supplement 
the  family  income.  Either  of  these  conditions  has 
serious  consequences  from  the  standpoint  of  health. 

*5  Testimony  of  H.  R.  Bogart,  secretary  of  the  Associated  Charities  of  San 
Francisco,  before  the  United  States  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  public 
hearings  on  the  seasonal  labor  problem  in  California. 


334  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Unhealthftd  Living  Conditions 

Under  existing  conditions,  the  reason  for  unhealthful 
modes  of  living  is  largely  an  economic  one.  Since  these 
conditions  have  been  found  to  be  intimately  connected 
with  the  incidence  of  disease,  they  constitute  a  factor  in 
the  problem  of  the  wage-worker's  health,  whose  sig- 
nificance is  plainly  evident.  It  is  worth  while  to 
review  some  of  the  more  significant  facts,  in  order  to 
illustrate  this  phase  of  the  problem. 

Inadequate  Diet. — The  frequent  lack  of  a  properly 
balanced  and  adequate  diet  among  wage-earners  and 
their  families  is  a  factor  entering  into  the  problem  of 
their  health  which  has  probably  been  noted  by  nearly 
every  physician  and  health  and  charity  worker.  The 
recent  findings  of  Goldberger  ^^  show  clearly  that  an 
unbalanced  diet  causes  pellagra,  a  disease  which  is 
found  more  frequently  among  low-paid  workers  than 
among  the  well-to-do.  Furthermore,  while  diet  is  not 
a  specific  factor  in  the  causation  of  tuberculosis,  as  in 
pellagra,  the  undernourished  prove  easy  victims  to  the 
tubercle  bacillus.  A  committee  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  Labor  Legislation  stated :  "'^ 

"With  insufficient  wages,  food  is  cut  down  below  the 
level  of  subsistence.  In  order  to  meet  expenses  for 
lodging  and  clothing,  working  women  reduce  their  diet 
to  the  lowest  possible  point.     Health  inevitably  suffers." 

2«  See  Tublic  Health  Reports  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service,  October  and 
November,    1915. 

"  Constitutional  amendments  relating  to  labor  legislation  and  brief  in  their 
defense,  submitted  to  the  constitutional  convention  of  New  York  State,  by  a 
committee  organized  by  the  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  1915. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  335 

Nearly  every  investigation  by  minimum  wage  com- 
missions has  shown  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
independent  women  workers  in  all  sections  of  the  coun- 
try are  unable  to  provide  enough  food,  and  the  right 
kind  of  food,  on  the  wages  they  receive,  and  proper 
subsistence  has  been  thoroughly  established  as  one  of 
the  fundamental  considerations  in  the  fixing  of  mini- 
mum wages  in  a  number  of  states. 

The  effect  of  the  rise  in  the  prices  of  foods  has 
undoubtedly  tended  to  render  it  more  difficult  for  the 
low  paid  wage-worker's  family  to  obtain  sufficient  ani- 
mal protein  food.  Budgetary  studies  have  shown  that 
the  smaller  the  family  income  the  less  is  the  relative 
importance  of  meat  and  other  animal  protein  food  in 
the  diet.  Statistics  of  food  prices  show  that  the  in- 
crease in  prices  of  meats  and  other  animal  protein 
foods  has  been  over  50  per  cent,  greater  than  in  the 
case  of  fats  or  starch  foods  since  1900. 

Bad  Housing  Conditions. — Unfavorable  conditions 
prevailing  in  the  household  of  wage-earners  constitute 
another  important  phase  of  the  problem  in  the  environ- 
ment of  the  wage-working  population.  The  absence 
of  sufficient  hght;  the  lack  of  ventilation  facilities  or, 
when  adequate  facilities  exist,  the  continuously  closed 
rooms  to  secure  warmth,  because  of  the  inability  to  pro- 
vide sufficient  fuel;  the  accumulation  of  filth;  the  preva- 
lence of  insanitary  toilets;  the  necessity  for  overcrowd- 
ing, in  order  to  reduce  the  rent  to  a  figure  which  will 
permit  the  household  to  make  ends  meet — these  are 
fairly  familiar  facts. 


336  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

It  seems  to  be  the  general  experience  that  most  of 
these  unheahhful  conditions  tend  to  be  present  where 
overcrowding  exists,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  pre- 
vail is  perhaps  best  suggested  by  statistics  of  congestion 
among  workingmen  and  their  families.^*  It  is  apparent 
that  in  a  household  of  six  or  more  people  living  in  less 
than  four  rooms,  the  conditions  described  by  the  term 
"bad  housing"  are  likely  to  be  found. 

European  statistics  on  the  relation  of  tuberculosis 
to  congestion  are  confirmed  by  recent  studies  in  New 
York  City.  A  survey  of  the  Washington  street  dis- 
trict ^^  showed  that  57  per  cent,  of  the  families  lived  in 
two  rooms  and  26  per  cent,  in  three  rooms,  many  of 
these  families  having  lodgers.  The  death  rate  from 
tuberculosis  in  this  district  in  1913  was  between  500 
and  600  per  100,000,  or  about  four  times  the  rate  gen- 
erally prevalent.  In  one  block  in  this  district  63  cases 
of  tuberculosis  were  found  in  19 13.  Another  study  of 
217  working-class  families  in  New  York  City  reported 
almost  unbelievable  conditions.  In  his  description  and 
summary  of  this  investigation,  Fishberg  said :  ^" 

"These  families  consisted  of  1,369  persons,  of  whom 
1,129  Hved  at  "home"  in  717  rooms  and  slept  in  658 
beds.  That  is  about  two  to  a  bed  and  1.57  to  a  room, 
including  kitchens.  Of  the  274  tuberculous  persons 
only  112  had  separate  rooms  and  only  138  had  separate 

»«  For  data  relating  to  congestion,  see  chapter  on  Living  Conditions. 

"  A  Survey  of  the  Washington  Street  District  of  New  York  City,  1914,  pp. 
56-57. 

">  Maurice  Fishberg:  A  Study  of  the  Child  in  the  Tuberculosis  Milieu,  Arch. 
Pediat.,  February,   1914. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  :^s7 

beds.  Some  consumptive  mothers  slept  on  chairs  or 
on  the  kitchen  floors." 

Depressing  as  this  picture  is,  Fishberg's  observation 
has  been  that  such  a  state  of  affairs  is  not  unusual  in 
industrial  centers  in  the  United   States. 

The  bad  conditions  that  prevail  in  lodging  houses 
have  been  found  to  be  peculiarly  conducive  to  the 
spread  of  disease,  particularly  of  tuberculosis.  In 
nearly  all  industrial  communities  to  which  workers  of  the 
newer  immigration  have  come,  the  boarding  and  lodg- 
ing house  is  a  familiar  institution.  There  the  foreign 
laborers,  who  are  unmarried,  or  who  have  left  their 
families  in  their  native  land,  crowd  together.  The  fol- 
lowing description  of  lodging-house  conditions  in  East 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  is  believed  to  be  typical  ^^  of  con- 
ditions in  the  immigrant  districts  of  industrial  com- 
munities :  ^^ 

"By  reason  of  the  tendency  of  workmen  of  the  same 
race  to  lodge  in  the  same  section  or  town,  the  lodging 
houses  exhibited  many  instances  of  extreme  overcrowd- 
ing. Thus,  in  one  case,  there  were  23  lodgers  in  a 
four-room  house,  and  it  was  by  no  means  uncommon 
to  find  a  single  room  occupied  by  from  three  to  twelve 
workers.  The  lodgers,  for  the  most  part,  slept  two 
in  a  bed.    In  some  of  the  lodging  houses,  where  the  men 

^  The  reports  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Commission  (Vols.  8-20)  contain  a 
large  number  of  community  studies  in  which  descriptions  of  the  immigrant 
lodging  houses  appear  that  depict  even  worse  conditions  than  shown  in  the 
above. 

3=  United  States  Public  Health  Service:  Public  Health  Reports,  March  6, 
1914:  A  Report  on  the  Prevalence  of  Trachoma  among  Steel-Mill  Workers  in 
East  Youngstown,  Ohio,  by  Surg.  J.  W.  Schereschewsky,  United  States  Public 
Health  Service,  pp.  565-566. 


338  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

work  on  both  'day  and  night  turns,'  the  occupation 
of  the  beds  is  almost  continuous,  the  night  men  taking 
during  the  day  the  places  of  those  sleeping  at  night 
in  the  beds.  The  beds  themselves  were  usually  old 
and  in  filthy  condition,  destitute  of  bed  linen,  the  covers 
consisting  of  old  bedquilts.  The  washing  facilities  con- 
sisted of  buckets,  or  hand  basins,  which  were  used  in 
common  by  all  the  occupants  of  a  room.  The  houses 
themselves  were  for  the  most  part  built  close  together, 
so  that  the  rooms  were  dark.  Very  few  of  the  rooms 
were  susceptible  of  thorough  ventilation.  Indeed,  but 
little  advantage  would  have  been  taken  of  such  a  pro- 
vision, as  all  windows  were  found  carefully  closed  and 
the  temperature  was  still  further  raised  by  small  stoves." 
Effects  of  Unfavorable  Community  Environment 
Upon  Health. — In  determining  the  effects  of  community 
conditions  upon  health,  it  is  difficult  to  state  in  exact 
figures  just  how  much  of  the  higher  morbidity  and 
mortality  rates  among  the  wage-working  population 
is  due  to  community  environment  and  how  much  to 
other  conditions.  But  it  is  clear  that  community  en- 
vironment has  direct  detrimental  effects  on  health.  This 
is  suggested  by  the  results  of  Dr.  Antonio  Stella's 
intensive  study  of  six  tenement  blocks  in  New  York 
City.  There  it  was  found  that,  while  the  death  rate 
at  that  time  for  the  city  as  a  whole  was  18.3  per  thou- 
sand and  51.5  for  children  under  five  years  of  age,  it 
varied  in  these  particular  blocks  from  22.3  to  24.9  per 
thousand  for  all  ages  and  from  59.2  to  92.2  per  thou- 
sand for  children  under  five  years  of  age.     An  investi- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  339 

gation  of  three  "working-class"  districts  in  Cleveland, 
one  typical  of  the  best  community  conditions,  one  of 
average  conditions  and  one  of  the  worst  conditions, 
found  that  the  tuberculosis  rate  per  thousand  in  19 12 
was  35  for  the  worst,  2^  for  the  average,  and  5  for  the 
best.  The  districts  were  rated  according  to  the  usual 
standards  of  sanitation.  The  findings  of  a  committee 
of  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  which  visited 
a  number  of  industrial  towns,  are  of  special  signifi- 
cance in  this  connection.  Dr.  Thomas  Darlington, 
secretary  of  the  welfare  committee  of  the  institute, 
in  commenting  upon  these  findings,  said :  ^^ 

"A  study  of  the  causes  of  death  shows  that,  in  gen- 
eral, but  4  per  cent,  die  from  old  age,  4  per  cent,  more 
die  from  violence,  and  92  per  cent,  die  from  disease. 
Of  this  last  great  group,  nearly  one-half  are  due  to 
diseases  of  environment ;  that  is,  to  diseases  which 
.  .  .  are  wholly  preventable.  Taking  15  of  the  prin- 
cipal towns  visited  by  the  institute,  excluding  the  large 
cities,  the  death  rate  averages  19  per  1,000 — easily 
double  what  it  should  be,  and  at  least  one-third  more 
than  the  rate  of  some  cities  of  larger  size," 

The  effect  of  unfavorable  community  conditions  upon 
health  and  the  extent  of  unhealthful  community  condi- 
tions have  been  pictured  by  an  investigation  in  Johns- 
town, Pa.,  of  infant  mortality.^*     As  a  previous  Fed- 

»=  "Health  and  Efficiency,"  an  address  delivered  at  the  annual  banquet  of  the 
American  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  held  in  New  York  City,  May  17,  191J. 
Published  in  pamphlet  form. 

=**  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor,  Children's  Bureau:  Infant  Mortality:  ResuUs 
of  a  Field  Study  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  based  on  births  in  one  calendar  year,  by 
Emma  Duke,  1915.  See  chapter  on  Relation  of  Infant  Mortality  to  Environ- 
ment, Neighborhood  Incidents,  pp.  14-20. 


340  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

eral  investigation  had  shown,^^  and  as  corroborated  by 
the  Children's  Bureau's  inquiry,  the  line  between  the 
sections  of  the  locality  occupied  by  wage-workers  (com- 
posed chiefly  of  foreign-born  workers  and  their  fami- 
lies) and  other  sections,  was  very  sharply  drawn.  The 
native  sections,  populated  by  skilled  American  work- 
ers, business  men  and  others  on  a  higher  economic 
level,  were  ignorant  of  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
working-class  sections  and,  for  the  most  part,  indif- 
ferent to  them  except  when  they  became  "nuisances" 
or  menaces  to  their  own  health.  This  indifference  was 
markedly  shown  in  the  lack  of  community  care  of  the 
poorer  sections,  where  bad  sewerage,  insufficient  water 
connections,  and  infrequent  attention  to  streets,  were 
prevalent  characteristics.  Infant  mortality  rates  were 
ascertained  according  to  wards  of  the  city,  and  were 
found  to  vary  from  50.0  to  200.0.  In  the  distinctively 
workingmen's  wards,  where  insanitary  conditions  were 
most  prevalent,  the  infant  mortality  rates  were  found 
to  range  from  156.0  to  271.0.  In  the  other  wards,  where 
sanitary  conditions  were  noticeably  better,  the  infant 
mortality  rates  ranged  from  50.0  to  125.0,  the  average 
for  the  entire  city  being  134.0.  An  investigation  into 
the  milk  supply  of  Johnstown,  by  the  Federal  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry,  in  1913,  ascertained  that  the  milk 
sold  was  "very  poor,"  as  shown  by  bacterial  counts 
and  inspection,  and  that  the  condition  was  due  to  the 

^  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission  Reports:  Immigrants  in  Industries,  Vol. 
viii  p.  436.  Conditions  as  found  in  this  cunimunity  study  by  the  Immigration 
Commission  were  stated  to  be  practically  the  same  by  the  Children's  Bureau 
at  Uie  time  of  its  investigation  (U.  S.  I'ublic  Health  Service:  Public  Health 
Bulletin  76,  p.  27,  note). 


IN   "AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  341 

total  absence  of  municipal  milk  inspection.  The  city- 
dairies,  which  supplied  milk  to  the  poorer  sections,  had 
an  average  score  of  only  26.84  out  of  a  possible  100, 
and  were  described  in  the  Bureau's  report  as  "vile 
from  a  sanitary  standpoint."  On  the  other  hand,  the 
average  scores  for  other  sources  of  the  milk  supply, 
while  unsatisfactory,  were  in  every  instance  higher 
than  the  city  dairies.  Furthermore,  it  was  found  that 
the  methods  of  distributing  the  milk  from  city  dairies 
were  particularly  inadequate  and  dangerous,  the  milk 
was  sold  warm,  and  the  purchasers  rarely  possest  means 
of  refrigeration  in  their  homes.^® 

Johnstown  has  been  found  to  be  a  typical  industrial 
community  in  the  Eastern  section  of  the  United  States, 
and  conditions  of  community  environment  there  have 
been  described  by  various  authorities  as  fairly  illus- 
trative of  manufacturing  localities  "  where  the  industrial 
development  of  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  the 
coming  in  of  large  numbers  of  the  newer  immigrant 
races  in  response  to  the  increased  demand  for  unskilled 
labor,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  population,  have  out- 
stript  the  community's  realization  of  the  need  for  a 
corresponding  development  of  public  welfare  provisions 
and  administration.  Along  with  the  lack  of  proper 
community  supervision  of  health,  there  were  found  to 

s«  This  report  is  published  as  Appendix  III  to  the  Federal  Children's  Bureau 
report  on  infant  mortality  referred  to  aTsove.  Since  the  report  was  made,  a 
citizens'  campaign  for  clean  milk  has  been  conducted  with  beneficial  results. 
The  unfavorable  milk  situation,  however,  existed  at  the  times  the  Federal  Immi- 
gration Commission  and  the  Federal  Children's  Bureau  made  their  investigations. 

s'Jenks  and  Lauck:  The  Immigration  Problem,  3d  ed.,  p.  72.  See  also 
Reports  of  the  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  viii,  p.  237. 


34-'  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

exist  insanitary  and  congested  housing  conditions,  long 
and  severe  hours  of  labor,  and  a  generally  low  level 
of  family  income  for  a  great  majority  of  the  house- 
holds of  wage-earners.^^  The  high  rate  of  mortality 
among  the  children  of  wage-workers  is  but  one  indica- 
tion of  the  extent  of  the  sickness  that  such  conditions 
cause  among  the  wage-earning  population,  but  it  sug- 
gests the  prevalence  of  ill  health  and  the  preventable 
deaths  in  the  many  industrial  communities  of  which 
Johnstown  is  only  a  type. 

The  Employment  of  Women 
The  factor  of  sex  renders  the  problem  of  the  health 
of  the  wage-working  population  more  acute  and  com- 
plex. In  view  of  the  generally  accepted  fact  that  in 
the  population  as  a  whole  the  female  mortality  rate  is 
less  than  the  male,  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  assume 
that,  excluding  confinements,  the  female  morbidity  rate 
is  not  greater  than  the  male.  Among  women  employed 
as  wage-workers,  however,  these  conditions  are  appar- 
ently reversed. 

Perry's  statistics  of  cotton-mill  operatives  and  sta- 
tistics of  the  Leipzig,  Austrian,  and  Italian  insurance 
funds  show  that  the  mortality  rate  of  female  wage- 
earners  under  40  years  of  age  is  higher  than  that  of 
male  wage-earners  in  the  same  age  group.  Not  until  the 
age  of  40  is  passed  does  the  usual  excess  of  mortality 
among  males  assert  itself.^' 

"8  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  supra  cil.,  pp.  329-490;  also  sec- 
tions of  Children's  IJureau  report  on  Johnstown  dealing  with  the  economic 
status  of  the  fathers  of  children   included   in  its  investigation,  pp.  45-49. 

^^  The  following  tabulation  combines  in  brief  form  the  statistics  referred  to 
above : 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


343 


These  statistics  are  corroborated  by  the  MetropoHtan 
Life  Insurance  Company's  Sickness  Survey  of  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  by 
official  records  of  sick  leave  taken  by  male  and  female 
government  clerks  in  Washington,  D.  C.     The  Roches- 


EXCESS  OF  FEMALE  OVER  MALE  DEATH  RATE  PER  100,000 
ACCORDING  TO  AGE  GROUP 


■S?! 


Age  Group 


15-19  27 

20-24  46 

25-29  353 

30-34  260 

35-39  590 

40-44  737 

45-49 

50-54 

55-59 

60-64 


m  rt 

•e 

60  CO 

•o 

11 

-o 

c 

U  *-'  C\ 

3 

'3 

s 

Stat 

Un 

us,  1 

60 

c 

^'il 

.2* 

3 

"(3 

'C  rtU 

1-1 

< 

440 

i-i 

*58 

22 

420 

*109 

30 

400 

320 

\ 

109 

260 

450 

*112 

70 

160 

30 

( 

■184 

*60 

80 

*209 

^400 

*490 

*270 

I 

*428 

*490 

*80 

♦450 

■803 

*410 

*630 

■928 

♦870 

♦702 

*  Denotes  excess  of  male  ovei*  female  death  rate. 

o  Perry;  supra  cit.,  p.  75.  The  American  cotton-mill  workers'  statistics 
indicate  in  this  instance  that  the  proportion  of  women  over  25  years  of  age 
engaged  in  the  mills  is  larger  than  the  usual  proportion  of  women  wage-workers 
over  that  age  in  American  or  European  industries  in  general. 

b  Leipzig  Local  Sick  Fund,  statistics  for  1887  to  1905,  Twenty-Third  Annual 
Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor:  Workmen's  Insurance  and 
Compensation  Systems  in  Europe,  Vol.  i,  p.  1269. 

c  The  age  groups  are  "15J^  to  20^,"  "over  20^  to  25J4,"  etc.  See  Amtliche 
Nachrichten  betr.  Unfall-  und  Krankenversicherung,  1893,  and  the  Twenty-Third 
Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  sup.  cit.,  p.  295. 

(/Journal  of  the  Royal  Statistical  Society,  Vol.  Iv,  London,  1892:  Morbidity 
and  Mortality  according  to  Occupation,  by  Dr.  Jacques  Bertillon,  quoting  sta- 
tistics of  the  Statistical  Office  of  Italy.  See  also  Goldmark:  Fatigue  and  Effi- 
ciency, Part  II,  p.  24. 

e  L.  I.  Dublin,  Statistician  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Co. :  The  Insur- 
ability of  Women.  An  Address  Before  American  Life  Convention,  Aug.  19, 
1913,  p.   1. 

The  differences  in  actual  excess  of  female  death  rates  in  the  statistics  above 
may  be  due  to  differences  in  occupation  and  conditions  of  living.  The  fact  of 
an  excess,  however,  appears  common  to  all  countries. 


344  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

ter  survey  tended  to  confirm  the  Austrian  sickness 
insurance  records  on  the  point  that  sickness  of  women 
workers  is  greater  than  that  of  men  workers,  even  if 
disabiHty  due  to  confinement  is  ei^cluded.  European 
statistics  clearly  indicate  that  women  in  the  same  occu- 
pations as  men  are  sick  not  only  more  frequently,  but 
for  longer  periods. 

While  the  greater  health  hazard  to  wage-earning 
women  is  admitted  to  be  due  primarily  to  the  differ- 
ence in  sex,  other  special  conditions  tend  to  increase 
the  hazard  to  wage-earning  women.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  the  precariousness  of  their  employment 
and  the  additional  work  imposed  by  household  duties. 
The  precariousness  of  their  employment  is  a  constant 
spur  to  them  to  go  beyond  the  limit  of  their  strength, 
particularly  where  they  are  employed  on  piece-work. 
The  household  duties  of  wage-earning  women,  espe- 
cially of  working  mothers,  impose  double  work.  The 
workday  of  the  wage-earning  mother  begins  consid- 
erably earlier  than  the  opening  of  the  gates  of  the  mill 
or  factory  or  of  the  doors  of  the  store  in  which  she 
is  employed,  and  is  not  ended  when  she  comes  home. 
She  can  not  afford,  even  if  she  appreciates  its  impor- 
tance, to  stay  at  home  for  a  proper  period  of  rest 
before  and  after  confinement. 

Poverty  and  Disease 
It  must  be  evident  that  underlying  all  the  economic 
factors   in   the   problem   of    the    wage-workers'    health 
that  have  been  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  pages — the 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  345 

lack  of  freedom  of  choice  of  healthful  places  of  living 
and  of  liealthful  occupations  and  places  of  work,  the 
inadequacy  and  irregularity  of  the  earnings  of  heads 
of  workingmen's  families  and  the  necessity  for  the 
earning  of  wages  by  children  and  mothers — is  the  fact 
of  poverty.  These  factors  are  but  proximate  causes. 
For  if  any  one  phase  of  the  movement  for  better  health 
which  has  recently  taken  so  great  hold  upon  popular 
attention  is  brought  home  to  the  individual,  it  is  the 
fact  that,  under  existing  methods,  disease  prevention 
and  health  promotion  are  expensive.  And,  conversely, 
the  most  striking  and  fundamental  fact  that  the  inves- 
tigator of  the  conditions  of  disease  has  found  is  its 
great  prevalence  among  those  who  are  unable  to  pur- 
chase health. 

The  conditions  that  cause  disease  are  largely  due  to 
the  lack  of  financial  means  for  their  removal.  Even 
ignorance,  that  great  obstacle  to  health,  is,  after  all,  a 
more  intimate  companion  of  poverty  than  of  financial 
competence  or  of  wealth.  Except  in  so  far  as  they 
are  supplied  by  the  public  for  the  entire  community  or 
by  employers  for  all  their  employees,  the  preventive 
methods  that  scientific  research  has  given  are  largely 
unavailable  for  the  poor  unless  the  poor  become  pau- 
pers. Certainly  the  greatest  benefits  of  modern  medical 
and  surgical  science  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  low- 
paid  worker  and  his  family  unless  they  place  them- 
selves in  the  position  of  mendicants,  and  already  the 
average  physician  is  too  heavily  burdened  with  "charity 
patients."    Bad  housing,  inadequate  diet,  child  labor,  the 


346  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

employment  of  mothers  in  mills,  factories  and  stores, 
the  uncertainty  of  family  income,  inability  to  pay  for 
proper  medical  attendance  and  care,  alcoholism,  the 
restriction  of  the  natural  desires  for  normal  self-expres- 
sion, discouragement  and  mental  depression,  physical 
deterioration,  frequent  or  constant  ill  health — these  are 
but  results,  so  far  as  the  poorly  paid  class  of  wage- 
workers  and  their  families  are  concerned,  of  their 
poverty.  The  worst  housing  conditions,  the  greatest 
degree  of  overcrowding,  the  most  insanitary  environ- 
ment, the  most  innutritious  and  impure  food,  the  most 
wretched  surroundings,  are  suffered  by  those  who  can 
not  afford  better  conditions  of  living  because  the  worst 
conditions  are  the  cheapest.  And  the  least  efficient 
workers  and  weakest  individuals  are  the  ones  to  whom 
there  is  no  choice  but  the  most  dangerous  places  in 
which  to  live  and  attempt  to  rear  their  already  handi- 
capped children. 

In  all  countries  the  partnership  of  poverty  and  dis- 
ease has  been  seen.*''  Strikingly  positive  statistics  have 
just  been  published  on  the  relation  of  the  physical  con- 
dition of  male  workers  in  the  cloak,  suit,  and  skirt 
industry  in  New  York  City  to  their  economic  status. 
While  a  careful  inquiry  into  the  effects  of  occupation 
upon  the  health  of  these  workers  indicated  that  "no 
vocational   diseases  peculiar   to   garment   workers"   ex- 

*"  Levasseur  found  that  the  death  rate  in  the  poorer  sections  of  Paris  was 
31.3,  as  contrasted  with  16.2  for  "middle"  class  sections  and  13.4  in  the 
richest  sections.  Rowntree,  in  his  study  of  York,  England,  using  a  similar 
classification  of  sections  of  the  city,  found  that  the  death  rate  in  the  "poorest" 
section  was  27.8,  in  the  "middle"  class  section  20.7,  and  in  the  "highest"  13.5. 
La  Population  I'rancaise,  1889-1902,  Vol.  ii,  p.  403.  D.  S.  Rowntree:  Poverty; 
A  Study  in  Town  Life,  1902,  p.  205. 


Poorly 
nourished 

Anemic 

Tuberculous 

25.00 

9.94 

5.64 

15.02 

5.65 

5.30 

12.72 

4.42 

.44 

IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  347 

isted  (aside  from  the  general  effects  of  sedentary  occu- 
pations), marked  differences  were  found  between  the 
physical  condition  of  workers  in  higher  income  groups 
and  that  of  workers  in  the  lower  income  groups.  The 
results  of  such  an  analysis  of  the  statistics  of  physical 
condition  are  summarized  in  the  following  table :  *^ 

HEALTH  AND  INCOME  OF  MALE  GARMENT  WORKERS 

Per  cent. 

Annual  Earnings  lotal 

number 

Under  $500 372 

$500-$699     566 

$700  and  over    . .     . .        456 

All  of  the  workers  included  in  the  foregoing  statis- 
tics were  heads  of  families,  and  it  is  extremely  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  per  cent,  of  mortality  among 
their  children  was  11.65  in  the  highest  income  group  as 
contrasted  with  20.69  i"  the  lowest  income  group. 
This  difference  in  the  child  mortality  rate  closely  corro- 
borates the  results  of  several  studies  of  infant  mor- 
tality. The  recent  investigations  of  the  Federal  Chil- 
dren's Bureau,  to  which  references  have  already  been 
made,  into  the  mortality  of  infants  in  families 
of  all  economic  strata,  found  that  those  families 
whose  income  was  insufficient  to  provide  for  adequate 
subsistence  and  healthful  conditions  of  living  showed  a 
much  higher  infant  mortality  rate  than  families  with 
adequate  income.    In  Johnstown,  Pa.,  the  general  infant 

*^  Health  of  Garment  Workers — The  Relation  of  Economic  Status  to  Health. 
Sup.  cit..  pp.  1303-1304  (Reprint  No.  341,  pp.  S-9).  The  Talquist  scale  was 
used  in  making  determinations  of  anemia,  all  workers  with  hemoglobin  per- 
centages under  80  being  classed  as  anemic. 


348  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

mortality  rate  was  134.7,  but  in  families  where  the 
father  earned  less  than  $521  a  year,  or  less  than  $10 
a  week,  the  infant  mortality  rate  was  255.7.  This  rate 
was  three  times  as  high  as  in  families  where  the  father 
earned  $1,200  a  year  or  more.^"  In  Montclair,  N.  J., 
it  was  found  that  the  infant  mortality  rate  in  families 
where  the  income  was  less  than  $12  a  week  was  more 
than  twice  as  high  as  in  families  where  the  income  was 
^2^  or  more  a  week.  An  investigation  of  infant  mor- 
tality in  Fall  River,  Mass.,  showed  that  a  higher  rate 
was  prevalent  in  the  families  of  the  low-paid  textile 
workers  than  in  other  families.*^  The  exact  prevalence 
of  sickness,  as  indicated  by  mortality  rates,  whether  it 
be  two  persons  sick  for  each  death,  as  Farr  estimated,** 
or  some  other  ratio,  is  of  less  importance  than  the  gen- 
erally accepted  fact,  as  illustrated  by  the  foregoing  sta- 
tistics, that  sickness  and  death  occur  more  frequently 
in  families  with  insufficient  income  than  in  families 
with  adequate  subsistence.  This  can  be  interpreted  in 
but  one  way,  that  the  hazard  of  disease  and  the  effects 
of  ill  health  are  much  greater  among  those  who  are 
the  least  able  to  guard  against  disease  and  to  provide 
for  the  cost  of  sickness. 

*^  Supra  cit.,  p.  45. 

"  Louis  I.  Dublin:  Infant  Mortality  in  Fall  River,  Mass. — A  Survey  of 
the  Mortality  Among  833  Infants  Born  in  June,  July  and  August,  1913.  Ameri- 
can Statistical  Association  Publications,  xi'-.,  pp.  505-520.  Mr.  Dublin  says: 
"The  literature,  and  especially  the  German,  is  replete  with  trustworthy  referen- 
ces to  the  strong  positive  correlation  between  low  family  income  and  high  infant 
mortality.  For  it  is  the  factor  of  income  which  determines  the  number  of  rooms 
occupied,  their  location  in  the  city,  the  amount  and  character  of  the  food, 
the  need  for  supplementary  work  by  the  mother  outside  the  home,  and  other 
considerations  which  bear  directly   upon   infant  mortality   (p.   518)." 

"William  Farr:  Vital  Statistics.  Farr  estimated  that  to  one  annual  death 
two  persons  are  continually  sufTering  from  severe  illness  and  three  persons  are 
ill  enough  to  require  some  medical  relief   (pp.   512-513). 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  349 

In  no  instance,  perhaps,  has  this  condition  been  more 
clearly  and  forcibly  illustrated  than  in  the  campaign 
against  tuberculosis.  Poverty  has  been  found,  under 
existing  methods  of  prevention  and  medical  care,  to  be 
the  most  formidable  obstacle.  The  handicap  of  insani- 
tary environment  and  congested  living  conditions  in  the 
homes  and  lodging  places  of  the  low-paid  wage-earn- 
ers, to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  is  one 
which  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  overcome  with 
present  weapons.  To  this  is  added  the  further  handicap 
that  the  individual  who  must  live  under  such  conditions 
and  be  exposed  to  extraordinary  hazards  of  contagion 
is  usually  weakened  by  the  lack  of  adequate  diet,  strain 
from  overwork  or  worry  from  irregular  work,  the  effects 
of  bad  air  and  alcoholism,  and  his  power  of  resistance 
is  diminished.  His  chances  of  escaping  or  throwing 
off  the  disease  are  slight  in  comparison  with  the  chances 
of  the  individual  who  is  financially  able  to  live  in  more 
favorable  surroundings  and  to  maintain  his  physical  vigor. 
Unless  he  becomes  a  recipient  of  public  or  private  char- 
ity, he  stands  a  very  small  chance  of  being  able  to 
receive  proper  treatment  after  he  has  contracted  tuber- 
culosis. The  children  of  the  low-paid  workers  are  very 
likely  to  have  for  their  heritage  not  only  physiologic 
poverty,  but  also  the  financial  poverty  that  goes  with 
their  physiologic  handicap.  Aside  from  the  chances  of 
postnatal  infection  from  tuberculous  mothers,  the  chil- 
dren of  tuberculous  parents  inherit  a  general  weakness 
and  diminished  resistance,  and  when  placed  in  a  tuber- 
culous  environment,   have  been    found   to   contract   the 


350  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

disease  very  easily.  But  tuberculous  parents  are  not 
the  only  reason  for  the  physiologic  poverty  of  children. 
"A  badly  nourished  mother  or  father,  living  and  work- 
ing under  insanitary  conditions,  overworked  and  under- 
fed, will  as  surely  transmit  a  physiologic  poverty  to 
their  offspring  as  any  tuberculous  parent,"  is  Knopf's 
statement  of  the  relationship  of  poverty  to  the  disease. 
"A  general  debility  of  either  one  or  both  parents,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  added  to  an  insufficient  income  to  sup- 
port the  family  so  that  there  is  want  of  food,  clothing, 
or  proper  housing,  is  sure  to  result  in  the  physiologic 
poverty  of  children."  *^  And  to  these  conditions  should 
be  added,  as  Knopf  points  out,  that  in  large  families 
of  the  poor  it  is  usually  the  later  children  who  contract 
tuberculosis  most  easily,  not  only  because  the  parents 
are  less  vigorous,  but  because  the  pressure  of  subsist- 
ence is  greater  and  the  necessity  for  living  in  cheaper 
and  less   healthful   surroundings   is   intensified. 

These  observations,  which  have  been  made  by  num- 
bers of  physicians  and  tuberculosis  workers,  are  sub- 
stantiated by  all  authoritative  statistics  on  the  relation 
of  poverty  to  tuberculosis.  The  Charity  Organization 
Society  of  New  York  City  found  that  in  one  winter, 
of  2,200  destitute  families  investigated,  35  per  cent, 
were  found  to  be  destitute  on  account  of  tuberculosis 
and  25  per  cent,  on  account  of  other  diseases.  The 
experience  of  the  New  York  Society  for  Improving  the 

"  S.  A.  Knopf,  M.  D. :  Tuberculosis  as  a  Cause  and  Result  of  Poverty.  A 
paper  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association,  June,  1914.  Journal  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  Ixiii,  pp.   1720-1721    (November,   1914). 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  351 

Conditions  of  the  Poor  has  been  similar.  "The  result 
of  the  low  wage,  insufficient  to  supply  the  food,  clothing 
and  shelter  necessary  to  healthful  existence,  undoubt- 
edly meant  that  the  bodies  of  the  men,  women  and 
children  were  exposed  to  diseases  that  especially  prey 
on  underfed,  poorly  clothed  and  badly  housed  people," 
said  the  report  of  the  Society's  family  welfare  depart- 
ment; "tuberculosis  cut  short  the  lives  of  40  per 
cent,  of  these  men."  ^®  The  work  of  the  home  hospital 
experiment  of  the  Society  definitely  recognized  poverty 
as  one  of  the  conditions  which  had  to  be  eradicated 
before  the  spread  of  the  disease  within  a  family  could 
be  checked.  "Every  family  which  has  entered  the  hos- 
pital during  the  last  two  years  was  forced  into  poverty 
by  the  disease,"  says  the  Society's  report,  "some  being 
partially  dependent,  others  wholly  destitute.  To  treat 
the  social  ills,  therefore,  has  been  quite  as  important 
as  to  cure  the  disease,  for  without  rehabilitation  the 
family  would  continue  to  live  an  abnormal  life,  econom- 
ically and  socially,  and  consequently  the  disease  would 
be  more  liable  to  occur."  *''  Two  years  of  this  experi- 
ment, during  which  a  large  number  of  entire  families 
have  been  treated,  have  shown  that  "with  these  three 
items — a  decent  home,  an  adequate  budget,  and  proper 
supervision — families  afflicted  with  the  ills  flowing  from 
tuberculosis  and  poverty  can  be  rehabilitated."  ^^ 

"W.  H.  Matthews:  Report  of  the  Director  of  the  Department  of  Family- 
Welfare,  New  York  Society  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  1914. 

"  Poverty  and  Tuberculosis,  Two  Years  of  the  Home  Hospital  Experiment, 
1912-1914.  Publication  No.  84,  New  York  Society  for  Improving  the  Condition 
of  the  Poor,  p.  33. 

« Ibid,  p.  5. 


352  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

But  poverty  is  not  merely  a  cause  of  sickness;  it  is 
also  a  result  of  sickness.  "We  are  apt  to  forget,"  is 
the  reminder  made  by  Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb  in 
their  recent  book  "Prevention  of  Destitution,"  "that, 
in  all  countries,  at  all  ages,  it  is  sickness  to  which 
the  greatest  bulk  of  destitution  is  immediately  due."  *' 
The  British  Royal  Commission,  in  its  report  on  poverty 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  announced  as  its  conclusion 
that  "at  least  from  55  to  60  per  cent,  of  the  poverty 
in  Great  Britain  is  due  to  one  cause — sickness."  Sick- 
ness is  in  itself  the  contributing  cause  of  so  many  ele- 
ments in  destitution  that  it  is  hard  to  separate  it  as  a 
distinct  factor,  for  the  inability  to  grasp  or  retain  the 
opportunity  to  be  employed  may  have  for  its  first  cause 
an  illness  or  weakened  physical  efficiency  due  to  ill 
health.  In  5,000  destitute  families  coming  under  the 
observation  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  in 
New  York  City,  sickness  was  found  to  be  incident  to 
about  three- fourths  of  the  cases.^**  More  extensive  and 
exact  data  are  afforded  in  a  study  of  the  causes  of 
destitution  in  43  industrial  centers  in  the  United  States 
during  the  six  months  from  December  i,  1908,  to  May 
31,  1909,  conducted  by  the  Federal  Immigration  Com- 
mission. Over  31,000  cases  reported  data  complete 
enough  for  this  study,  and  nearly  120,000  persons  were 
involved  in  these  31,000  cases.  It  is  extremely  signifi- 
cant to  note  that  about  21  per  cent,  of  the  cases  requir- 
ing  relief   were   due   to   the   specific   cause   "illness   of 

"P.  15. 

WE.  T.  Devinc:  Misery  and  Its  Causes,  p.  204. 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  353 

breadwinner,"  and  that  nearly  18  per  cent,  were  due 
to  the  specific  cause  "illness  of  another  member  of 
family."  Thus  nearly  40  per  cent,  of  the  cases  requir- 
ing relief,  involving  about  49,000  persons  out  of  the 
120,000  concerned,  were  found  to  be  due  to  sickness. 
Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  men  who  were  given  relief 
were  married  at  the  time.  In  only  16.4  per  cent,  of  the 
cases  where  families  were  involved  were  there  no  chil- 
dren, while  in  over  51  per  cent,  there  were  three  or 
more  children.^^  Of  328,059  persons  receiving  relief 
in  some  form  in  19 10  from  the  public  charitable  insti- 
tutions in  the  state  of  New  York,  according  to  reports 
of  the  New  York  Board  of  Charities,  102,428,  or  nearly 
one-third,  were  driven  to  seek  relief  in  this  manner 
because  of  sickness.  Wherever  records  showing  the 
cause  of  destitution  are  available,  the  part  that  sick- 
ness plays  in  creating  paupers  is  unmistakably  shown 
to  be  appallingly  great. 

"  Reports  of  the  U.  S.  Immigration  Commission,  Vol.  34.  Cities  included 
in  this  investigation  were  chiefly  the  smaller  and  middle-size  industrial  com- 
munities and  did  not  include  New  York  or  Philadelphia.  Geographically  they 
were  distributed  as  follows:  North  Atlantic  States,  17  localities;  North  Cen- 
tral States,  18  localities;  Southern  States,  including  the  District  of  Columbia,  4 
localities.  Nearly  62  per  cent,  of  the  cases  included  in  the  study  were  native- 
born   individuals   and   families. 


354  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


IX 


THE  ADEQUACY   OF  WAGES   AND   EARNINGS 

The  conception  of  insufficient  earnings — whether  tney 
be  due  to  low  wages  or  to  a  lack  of  employment,  or 
both — as  a  fundamental  cause  of  disease,  industrial 
inefficiency  and  civic  weakness,  has  become  very  gen- 
eral in  recent  years.  It  is  no  longer  a  part  of  trade- 
union  propaganda,  but  it  is  coming  to  be  one  of  the 
things  that  the  average  man  takes  for  granted. 
Only  on  rare  occasions  is  the  assertion  made  now- 
adays that  the  families  of  workingmen  without 
adequate  means  are  usually  the  victims  of  work- 
ingmen's  laziness  or  bad  habits,  or  of  the  "cost 
of  high  living."  Recent  investigations  made  along 
scientific  lines,  of  actual  conditions,  and  the  massing 
of  statistical  evidence,  have  not  only  strengthened  this 
conception,  but  they  have  shocked  the  equanimity  of 
the  man  on  the  street  by  making  it  coldly  clear  that  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  wage-earning  population 
have  not  been  able  in  recent  years  to  maintain  a  stand- 
ard of  living  that  is  conducive  to  health  and  efficiency. 
The  public  has  had  its  attention  drawn  to  the  fact  that 
at  all  times,  and  at  some  times  more  than  others,  there 
is  an  appalling  amount  of  poverty  in  our  large  cities 


IN   'AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  355 

and  industrial  towns.  Careful  studies  of  the  prevalence 
of  disease  among  wage-workers  are  giving  less  empha- 
sis to  the  so-called  occupational  hazards,  because  they 
are  finding  that  a  great  deal  of  the  prevalent  ill  health 
is  due  to  the  inability  of  wage-earners  and  wage-work- 
ing families  to  make  ends  meet.  The  self-evident  propo- 
sition that  facilities  for  maintaining  health,  comfort, 
decency,  and  much  of  recreation  and  education  (in 
spite  of  the  extension  of  public  facilities),  are  pur- 
chasable things,  and  the  very  evident  fact  that  a  serious 
lack  of  these  things  has  been  found  among  so  great  a 
proportion  of  the  wage-working  population,  are  becom- 
ing looked  upon  as  undeniable  premises  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  wages  and  incomes  of  many  workers  and 
their  families  have  been  inadequate,  except,  perhaps,  in 
periods  of  abnormal  industrial  activity  and  restricted 
immigration,  such  as  the  present  period  of  1915-1916. 

It  remains  to  be  stated  how  exactly  this  conclusion 
is  borne  out  by  statistically  presented  facts.  To  what 
extent,  therefore,  are  wages  of  American  workers  and 
incomes  of  American  wage-earners'  families  adequate 
to  maintain  efficiency  and  reasonable  comfort,  and  to 
provide  for  their  desired  and  hoped  for  social  progress 
and  economic  advancement? 

A  satisfactorily  accurate  answer  to  the  question  is 
difficult,  perhaps  impossible.  Opinions  differ  as  to  what 
standard  is  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  such  an 
ideal.  There  are,  doubtless,  some  who  are  not  disposed 
to  concede  the  expediency  (even  if  they  do  concede  the 
justice)  of  such  an  ideal  for  the  entire  population  of  a 


356  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

country,  and  who  cling  to  a  social  classification  based 
on  economic  castes  as  necessary  for  the  natural  selec- 
tion of  the  strongest  economic  individuals.  There  are 
doubtless  to  be  found,  even  in  this  day,  those  who  are 
consciously  indifferent  to  a  distribution  of  national 
wealth  which  leaves  some  without  even  the  means  of 
subsistence.  There  are  unmistakable  signs,  however, 
of  a  verdict  from  society  at  large  against  philosophies 
and  indifferences  such  as  these.  Humanitarians  and 
utilitarians  are  joining  hands  in  efforts,  not  merely  to 
relieve,  but  to  prevent  conditions  that  result  from  the 
economic  impotency  and  insecurity  of  those  who  are  un- 
able, individually  or  as  a  group,  to  attain  a  level  of 
tolerable  living.  The  trend  of  labor  legislation  in  recent 
years  is  an  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  times.  The 
minimum  wage  laws  and  the  growingly  popular  move- 
ment for  social  insurance,  to  cite  no  other  examples, 
are  clearly  among  these  efforts.  As  a  result  there  has 
been  a  tendency  not  simply  to  question  the  supposed 
adequacy  of  the  wages  of  American  workingmen  and 
workingwomen,  but  to  set  up  standards  below  which 
wages  and  family  income  should  not  be  allowed.  Inten- 
sive and  comprehensive  examinations  of  wages  and 
income  in  relation  to  the  actual  cost  of  living  have 
been  made,  and  wages  have  been  carefully  scrutinized 
from  the  point  of  view  of  what  they  must  provide  for 
in  order  to  permit  efficient  work  and  decent  living. 

It  is  purposed  here  to  review  the  evidence  and  to 
summarize  these  findings  for  what  they  are  worth.  Ap- 
parently they  tend  to  coincide   with  observations  gen- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  357 

erally  made  and  accepted  and  to  point  to  certain  defin- 
ite standards.  They  are  briefly  presented  under  the 
following  heads:  (i)  The  adequacy  of  earnings  of 
male  workers  to  support  families;  (2)  The  adequacy 
of  women's  wages  to  support  independent  women  wage- 
earners;  (3)  The  adequacy  of  the  incomes  of  wage- 
working  families;  and  (4)  The  workingman's  family 
and  higher  living  costs. 

Adequacy  of  Earnings  of  Male   Workers  to  Support 

Families 

It  does  not  require  the  fixing  of  any  standard  of 
"minimum"  or  "comfortable"  living  for  the  working- 
man's  family  to  determine  the  adequacy  of  the  earnings 
of  the  fathers  of  families  to  supply  sufficient  income. 
If  it  were  necessary  to  show  that  the  annual  earnings 
of  male  workers  of  marriageable  age,  as  shown  by  the 
statistics  obtained  by  a  large  number  of  authoritative 
investigations,  have  been  insufficient  in  recent  years,  it 
is  amply  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  every  industry 
and  in  many  trades  and  occupations  the  average 
family  income  has  been  considerably  larger  than  the 
earnings  of  the  father.  Less  than  half  of  the  wage- 
earners'  families  in  manufacturing  industries,  accord- 
ing to  undeniably  authoritative  data,  depended  entirely 
upon  the  earnings  of  the  fathers.  With  the  exception 
of  the  families  whose  heads  are  engaged  in  occupations 
where  wages  are  considerably  above  the  average,  the 
evidence,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  showed  that  the  larger 
the  family  income  the  greater  were  the  proportionate 


358  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

contributions  from  the  wage-earning  mother  and  wage- 
earning  children,  or  from  boarders  and  lodgers.  The 
conclusion  is  inevitable  that  the  earnings  of  the  father 
in  the  average  family  were  insufficient  to  maintain  even 
the  standard  of  living  that  actually  prevailed,  much  less 
the  standard  that  students  of  living  conditions  have 
agreed  ought  to  prevail. 

To  illustrate  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  possible,  a  com- 
parison of  the  annual  earnings  of  adult  male  workers 
and  heads  of  families  may  be  made  with  total  family 
income.  Such  a  comparison  is  possible  for  a  large 
number  of  workers  and  families  in  typical  industrial 
localities  and  industries  from  the  statistics  published  in 
the  reports  of  the  Federal  Immigration  Commission, 
as   follows : 

COMPARISON  OF  ANNUAL  EARNINGS  OF  ADULT  MALE  WORKERS 
AND  HEADS  OF  FAMILIES  AND  TOTAL  FAMILY  INCOME  » 

Per  cent,  having  earnings  or  income 


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Annual  Earnings : 

Adult    males     . . 

26,616 

$475 

60 

84 

92 

97 

Family  heads   . . 

15,038 

50 

78 

89 

96 

Total  family  incomi 

e   15,726 

721 

31 

64 

83 

The  investigation  of  15,704  families  included  above 
showed  that  less  than  half  of  them  were  supported 
entirely  by  earnings  of  the   father  or  family  head,  as 

*  Compiled  from  Reports  of  United  States  Immigration  Commission,  vol. 
20.  Since  the  data  for  adult  male  workers,  family  heads,  and  families  were 
obtained  in  the  same  industries  and  localities  and  families,  and  the  individuals 
included  in  the  family  data  were  also  included  in  data  for  annual  earnings  of 
male  workers,   the  comparison  given  above  is  obviously  fair. 


7A^   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  359 

indicated  in  the   following  summary  for  a  number  of 
important  industries: 

ADEQUACY  OF  EARNINGS  OF  HEADS  OF  FAMILIES  TO  PROVIDE 
TOTAL  FAMILY  INCOME  2 

Average  Per   cent,   of 

earnings  of  Average  families  entirely 

Industry  head  of  family  dependent  on 

family  income  earnings  of  head 

Agricultural  implements  $576  $741  51.0 

Cigars  and  tobacco        ..      ..  821  970  51.6 

Clothing 530  713  48.2 

Coal  mining: 

Anthracite     457  618  36.2 

Bituminous 451  577  40.6 

Collars  and  cuffs 662  861  39.8 

Copper  mining  and  smelting  740  991  46.5 

Cotton  goods 470  791  32.2 

Furniture 598  769  42.3 

Glass 596  755  44.8 

Gloves 650  904  24.3 

Iron  and  steel 409  568  40.5 

Iron  ore  mining 706  990  55.0 

Leather      511  671  44.6 

Oil  refining      662  828  42.2 

Shoes 753  765  34.8 

Silk  goods 448  635  46.0 

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing  578  781  51.4 

Sugar  refining 549  661  30.2 

Woolens  and  worsteds..     ..  400  661  24.9 

An  earlier  investigation  of  an  even  larger  number  of 
workingmen's  families  showed  a  similar  situation.  In 
25,440  families  investigated  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of 
Labor  in  1901,  the  average  annual  earnings  of  the 
father  were  found  to  be  $621,  and  the  total  income 
of  the  family  $749.  There  was  thus  a  difference  of 
$128  annually,  or  over  17  per  cent,  of  the  family 
income,  which  came  from  other  sources.     The  average 

»  Compiled  from  the  reports  of  the  United  States  Immigration  Commission. 


36o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

total  annual  expenditures  of  these  families  were  found 
to  be  approximately  $700.  In  other  words,  the  aver- 
age family  had  to  have  nearly  $80  a  year  more  than 
the  father  could  earn  in  order  to  maintain  the  existing 
standard  of  living. 

It  does  not  require  more  than  a  glance  at  the  fore- 
going statistics  to  see  that  the  gap  between  family  income 
and  earnings  of  the  family  head  was  considerably  larger 
in  the  later  investigation  and  that  in  the  industries  where 
the  earnings  of  the  family  head  were  low  the  gap  was 
large.  In  other  words,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  mini- 
mum standard  of  family  subsistence — altho  if  exprest  in 
exact  figures,  it  may  vary  according  to  race,  locality  and 
size  of  family — to  which  all  wage-earning  families  strive 
to  reach.  If  the  head  or  "breadwinner"  can  not  reach 
it,  the  wife  and  children  must  help  by  working  for 
wages  or  keeping  boarders  and  lodgers. 

The  conclusion  already  stated  in  these  pages,  that 
the  average  male  worker  in  the  basic  and  more  regularly 
operated  industries  loses  in  years  of  ordinary  industrial 
activity  between  a  sixth  and  a  third  of  his  working  time 
for  various  reasons,  suggests  the  inadequacy  of  full- 
time  wages  to  maintain  a  family  of  average  size  accord- 
ing to  existing  standards.  If  all  loss  of  wages  due 
to  irregularity  of  employment  could  be  eliminated,  and 
if  the  male  adult  worker  could  work  every  week  in 
the  year,  would  his  earnings  be  sufficient  to  maintain 
his  family  according  to  prevailing  standards  among  the 
wage-working  population? 

The  available  evidence  points  unmistakably  to  a  nega- 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  361 

tive  answer  for  at  least  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
male  wage-earners  in  the  United  States.  A  single  illus- 
tration will  make  the  point  clear.  The  Federal  Immi- 
gration Commission's  data  for  220,000  adult  male  wage- 
earners  employed  in  all  occupations  in  a  large  number 
of  representative  plants  in  the  principal  industries 
showed  an  average  weekly  wage  of  $12.64.  Computed 
in  terms  of  full-time  annual  earnings  (52  weeks)  this 
wage  would  mean  a  maximum  average  of  about  $665, 
as  contrasted  with  an  actual  average  family  income  of 
between  $700  and  $800  a  year.  Statistics  of  weekly 
earnings  of  male  workers  and  of  annual  family  income, 
already  summarized  in  the  foregoing  pages,  afford 
numerous  and  illuminating  illustrations  of  a  similar 
character.  While  in  some  occupations  and  trades  full- 
time  weekly  wages  would  appear  to  be  sufficient  to  sup- 
ply a  family  income  as  large  as  that  indicated  to  be  the 
actual  average,  in  many  occupations  and  trades — appar- 
ently in  the  majority  of  industries — full-time  wages  do 
not  appear  to  be  sufficient.  Thus  the  conclusion  is  sug- 
gested that  even  in  years  of  extraordinary  industrial 
activity,  when  the  greatest  opportunity  for  full-time 
earnings  is  possible,  there  were  many  wage-earning  men 
who  could  not  make  enough,  at  wage  rates  then  pre- 
vailing, to  support  a  family  of  the  average  size  even 
according  to  standards  that  have  been  found  to  prevail. 
The  significance  of  these  facts  will  at  once  appear 
when  they  are  taken  into  consideration  with  the  facts 
relating  to  the  actual  sources  of  income  in  wage-working 
families,   as   shown  by   recent   investigations   and   sum- 


362  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

marized  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  inadequacy  of  the 
wages  of  a  large  proportion  of  adult  male  workers 
who  are  heads  of  families  to  provide  for  the  actual 
needs  and  wants  of  their  families  has  been  found  to  be 
the  reason  in  a  large  proportion  of  families  why  moth- 
ers must  supplement  the  wages  of  fathers  by  earning 
wages  as  industrial  workers  or  by  increasing  their 
home  duties  in  taking  boarders  and  lodgers,  and  why 
many  children  can  not  take  full  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  systems  of  public  education,  and  must 
seek  employment  as  wage-workers.  It  seems  to  be 
fairly  generally  recognized  that  the  pressure  of  necessities 
such  as  these  brings  in  its  train  serious  effects 
upon  the  health  and  upon  the  mental  and  civic  efficiency 
of  the  wage-working  population  and  can  not  do  other- 
wise than  affect  community  and  national  standards, 
both  economic  and  social.  The  realization  of  what  such 
conditions  mean  has  given  a  strong  impetus  to  a  new 
conception  of  the  proper  standard  of  wages  for  wage- 
earning  men.  This  conception  has  been  exprest  in 
recent  literature  in  a  number  of  different  ways.  In 
Australia,  for  example,  it  has  been  set  forth  in  admin- 
istrative orders  for  mininuim  wages  and  upheld  in  the 
courts.  Perhaps  the  latest  and  most  complete  state- 
ment of  it  in  the  United  States  appeared  in  the  so-called 
"staff  report"  to  the  Federal  Commission  on  Industrial 
Relations,  which  said  :  ^ 

"The  welfare  of  the  State  demands  that  the  useful 

•  Final  Report  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  1916,  p.  92. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  363 

labor  of  every  able-bodied  workman  should,  as  a  mini- 
mum, be  compensated  by  sufficient  income  to  support 
in  comfort  himself,  a  wife,  and  at  least  three  minor 
children,  and  in  addition  to  provide  for  sickness,  old 
age,  and  disability.  Under  no  other  conditions  can  a 
strong,  contented  and  efficient  citizenship  be  developed." 

The  Adequacy  of  Women's  Wages 

There  is  general  agreement  in  wage  determinations 
by  various  minimum  wage  commissions,  and  in  the 
results  of  various  investigations,  that  the  American 
woman  wage-worker  should  receive  more  than  $8  a 
week  in  order  to  maintain  conditions  of  decency  and 
health.  This  conclusion  is  based  on  the  actual  cost 
of  living  for  several  thousands  of  women  workers,  and 
assumes  that  the  wage  paid  should  be  sufficient  to 
maintain  the  worker  independently. 

The  fact  that  about  80  per  cent,  of  women  workers 
do  not  live  independently,  but  live  at  home,  has  not 
been  taken  to  constitute  a  valid  argument  against  the 
proposition  that  a  living  wage  should  be  paid  to  all 
women.  It  has  been  regarded  as  fundamental,  by  advo- 
cates of  the  minimum  wage,  that  if  the  productive  effi- 
ciency of  a  wage-working  woman,  living  away  from 
home,  entitles  her  to  a  living  wage,  it  also  entitles  other 
wage-working  women  to  a  living  wage.  Furthermore,  as 
the  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission  ascertained  in  an 
investigation  of  13,686  women  workers  living  at  home 
— practically  all  of  whom  contributed  all  or  part  of 


364  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

their  earnings  to  family  income — the  actual  cost  of 
maintaining  women  workers  at  home  does  not  differ 
materially  from  the  amounts  paid  by  women  living 
away  from  home.  It  was  found  that  in  58  per  cent, 
of  these  cases  the  actual  wages  ran  below  the  stand- 
ard living  cost  of  $9.50  per  week,  and  in  6  per  cent, 
of  the  cases  the  wages  were  less  than  their  share  in 
the  family's  food  and  rent  budget  alone. 

Some  determinations  of  minimum  costs  of  independ- 
ent living  for  women  workers  are  higher  than  $8  a 
week;  the  cost  varies  largely  according  to  locality.  The 
Massachusetts  Commission  on  Minimum  Wage  set  153^ 
cents  an  hour  for  brush  factory  workers,  which,  on  a 
54-hour  basis,  would  allow  $10.37  Per  week,  and  set  $8.90 
for  workers  in  retail  stores.  The  Minnesota  Commis- 
sion set  $8.75  for  women  factory  workers,  with  rates 
from  $8  to  $9  for  workers  in  other  occupations.  The 
Oregon  law  set  $8.25  a  week  for  experienced  women 
workers  in  any  industry  and  $6  for  inexperienced  work- 
ers. In  Utah,  the  law  placed  $1.25  a  day  or  $7.50  a 
week  for  experienced  workers.  The  Washington  State 
Commission  set  $8.90  a  week  for  factory  workers,  with 
slightly  lower  rates  for  apprentices  and  girls  under  18 
years  of  age,  and  higher  rates  for  certain  occupa- 
tions such  as  stenographers,  bookkeepers,  etc.,  and 
mercantile  employees. 

Assuming  $8  as  the  lowest  amount  possible,  the 
actual  statistics  of  wages  for  women  workers  indicate 
a  serious  inadequacy  of  women's  wages.  As  stated  in 
the    foregoing    pages,    the    available    statistics    indicate 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  365 

that  over  three-fourths  of  the  women  workers  in  the 
principal  industries  and  in  mercantile  establishments 
get  less  than  $8  a  week.  Nearly  half  receive  only  $6 
a  week. 

This  does  not  include  lost  time  due  to  irregularity 
of  employment.  A  recent  and  comprehensive  review 
of  the  data  relating  to  irregular  employment  of  women 
workers  points  out  that  there  are  "three  classes  of 
women  workers  fairly  well  defined:* 

1.  "The  smaller  group  of  those  permanently  em- 
ployed, forming  the  backbone  of  the  labor  force. 

2.  "Those  who  are  employed  for  the  entire  busy  sea- 
son, but  are  laid  off  at  the  close. 

3.  "Those  who  drift  in  and  out  of  the  industry,  work- 
ing only  a  few  days  or  weeks  at  a  time  in  one  place." 

This   study   stated   the    following   conclusions  :^ 

"All  facts  agree  that  actual  earnings  fall  far  short 
of  possible  earnings  based  on  'rates  of  pay.'  This  in- 
vestigation leads  also  to  the  conclusion  that,  at  least 
for  the  workers  here  considered,  the  average  girl  or 
woman  loses  in  wages  an  amount  equal  to  no  less  than 
15  per  cent,  of  her  possible  earnings.  The  younger, 
more  irregular  worker  loses  an  even  greater  amount." 

For  the  second  and  third  groups  of  women  workers 
mentioned  above,  more  time  is  "lost"  than  "worked." 

With  these  conditions  thus  suggested  in  even  a  very 
general  way,  the  graphic  facts  as  to  the  living  condi- 
tion of  women  workers  point  unmistakably  to  the  con- 

*  Irregular  Employment   and   the   Living  Wage,  by   Irene  Osgood  Andrews, 
American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  June,  1915,  p.  306. 
^Ibid,  p.  311. 


366  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

elusion  that  low  wages  for  women  have  thus  two 
general  groups  of  effects : 

First,  in  the  case  of  the  woman  worker  living  at 
home,  the  family  receiving  all  or  part  of  her  wages  is 
not  compensated  for  her  employment  beyond  her  mere 
subsistence.  Her  low  wages  are  unfair  to  the  bankrupt 
family  as  well  as  to  the  worker  herself. 

Second,  low  wages  of  independent  women  workers 
have  a  peculiarly  direct  effect  upon  their  health.  In 
order  to  meet  expenses  for  lodging  and  clothing  they 
reduce  their  diet  to  the  minimum,  often  below  the 
minimum,  and  go  without  medical  attention  until  it  is 
too  late  for  medical  care  to  restore  them  to  normal 
efficiency. 

There  has  not  been  established  any  direct  causal  rela- 
tion between  low  wages  and  immorality  of  women,  but 
the  investigations  agree  that  low  wages  are  an  impor- 
tant   contributing    factor. 

The  'Adequacy  of  Family  Income 

The  foregoing  summary  of  recent  discussions  and  de- 
terminations of  "adequate"  wages  has  suggested  concep- 
tions of  wage  standards  about  which  wide  differences 
of  opinion  exist.  Aside  from  those  who  doubt  the  expe- 
diency or  even  the  justice  of  a  wage  standard  under  mod- 
ern industrial  and  social  conditions,  for  male  workers, 
which  will  enable  them  to  support  families,  or  for 
women  which  will  enable  them  to  support  themselves 
independently  of  their  families,  there  are  many  who 
seriously    doubt   the   practicability    of    such    standards. 


7A^   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  367 

It  is  not  purposed  here  to  discuss  the  vaHdity  of  these 
views.  But,  as  a  point  in  fact,  the  following  question 
appears  to  be  pertinent : 

Does  the  actual  wage-working  family,  even  when 
wife  and  children  are  industrially  employed  for  wages 
or  when  funds  from  boarders  and  lodgers  or  from  other 
sources  are  secured,  have  an  income  sufficient  to  main- 
tain a  standard  which  permits  nutritious  diet,  healthful 
housing  and  community  environment,  reasonable  com- 
forts, and  proper  provision  against  sickness  and  old 
age?  Are  these  expedients  to  supplement  the  wages 
of  the  father,  to  which  wage-working  families  have  so 
generally  resorted,  adequate  to  allow  a  fair  minimum 
of  decent,  healthful  and  tolerable  living? 

A  general  answer  to  this  question  has  doubtless 
already  suggested  itself  in  the  summarization  given  in 
a  preceding  chapter  on  living  conditions  of  wage- 
working  families.  The  fact  that  large  numbers  of 
these  families  in  our  large  cities  and  industrial  towns 
live  under  conditions  unfavorable  to  health,  decency 
and  comfort  is,  in  itself,  an  eloquent  and  undeniable 
answer.  For  there  will  be  few  to  combat  the  obvious 
statement  that  a  very  small  proportion  of  these  wage- 
working  families  would  live  under  such  conditions  if 
their  incomes  were  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  live  under 
better  conditions. 

The  question  can  be  answered  more  definitely,  how- 
ever, than  this.  As  the  result  of  a  number  of  care- 
ful, scientific  studies  of  standards  of  living  among 
families  of  wage-earners,  there  are  available  some  data 


368  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

of  an  authoritative  nature  which  at  least  points  to  a 
reasonable  basis  for  a  definite  conclusion  as  to  what 
approximate  annual  income  the  normal  or  average  fam- 
ily must  have  in  order  to  maintain  such  a  standard. 
Given  some  idea  of  where  the  border  line  between 
poverty  and  adequate  subsistence  lies,  it  is  possible,  with 
such  information  as  to  actual  wages  and  family  income 
as  have  been  presented,  to  make  an  estimate,  albeit  a 
very  general  one,  of  the  proportion  of  wage- working 
families  on  the  poverty  side.  Stated  briefly,  and  as 
definitely  as  a  consideration  of  available  facts  appears 
to  warrant,  it  seems  to  be  fair  to  venture  this  con- 
clusion : 

The  workingman's  family  of  average  size  (two  adults 
and  three  children)  should  have  an  annual  income  of 
about  $800  to  maintain  a  standard  of  living  that, 
with  ordinary  frugality,  will  allow  provisions  for  sepa- 
rate and  decent  existence,  health,  and  a  modicum  of 
reasonable  comfort,  in  the  usual  industrial  locality  and 
at  prices  which  have  prevailed  during  the  last  few 
years.  In  certain  localities  where  the  cost  of  living  is 
lower  because  of  cheaper  food  supplies,  cheaper  rents, 
less  need  for  fuel,  and  the  like,  a  lower  minimum  of  in- 
come is  possible.  The  same  would  be  true  in  smaller  than 
"average"  sized  families.  The  opposite  is  true  of  locali- 
ties where  living  costs  are  unusually  high,  or  in  fami- 
lies of  greater  than  average  size,  or  families  in  which 
unusual  conditions,  such  as  invalidism,  exist.  Generally 
speaking,  however,  $800  appears  to  be  the  approximate 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  369 

figure  which  the  evidence  obtained  in  recent  years  has 
suggested. 

The  nature  of  this  evidence  is  summarized  and  illus- 
trated in  the  following  paragraphs : 

The  Point  of  Adequate  Subsistence. — The  various 
recent  investigations  of  budgets  of  families  in  different 
ranges  of  income  appear  to  indicate  quite  clearly  that 
the  point  of  adequate  subsistence  is  not  reached  until 
an  income  of  about  $800  or  $900  is  provided.  The 
percentage  of  family  income  spent  for  food  remains 
practically  the  same,  or  is  greater,  in  families  with 
incomes  of  less  than  that  amount;  in  families  with 
incomes  of  $800  or  more,  the  percentage  of  income 
spent  for  food  is  found  to  be  proportionately  less  as 
income  increases,  indicating  that  only  then  is  income 
sufficient  to  allow  a  surplus  left  from  food,  rent,  etc., 
to  be  spent  on  "incidentals." 

This  conclusion  was  shown  by  the  British  Board  of 
Trade's  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  living  in  American 
towns,  in  1909,  as  well  as  by  Chapin's  New  York  investi- 
gation, in  1907,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made. 
"These  figures,"  said  Chapin,  referring  to  the  percent- 
ages in  relation  to  income  groups,  "would  seem  to 
indicate  that  not  until  the  family  is  able  to  spend  well 
beyond  $1,000  does  it  satisfy  its  wants  for  food  on  a 
smaller  proportion  of  its  total  income  than  when  it  had 
only  $600  or  $700  for  all  purposes.  Whether  this  is 
due  to  insufficient  nutrition  or  lower  income,  or  to 
indulgence  of  more  expensive  tastes  as  resources 
increase,  we  may  be  able  at  a  later  point  to  suggest. 


3/0  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

Certainly  the  point  of  diminishing  percentages  of  ex- 
penditure for  food  is  placed  much  higher  in  the  income 
scale  than  in  the  cases  on  which  Engel  based  his  well- 
known  generalizations."  ^  Engel's  generalizations  were 
borne  out  quite  positively  with  regard  to  expenditures 
for  food  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor's  Cost  of  Liv- 
ing Study  in  iQor,  as  the  statistics  already  quoted  in 
the  chapter  on  Family  Income  and  Expenditure  shows. 
Chapin's  more  intensive  study  furnished  further  data, 
which  are  extremely  interesting,  regarding  the  propor- 
tion of  underfed  in  the  various  income  groups.  An 
analysis  of  the  nutrition  values  of  the  food  of  these 
families  showed  that  the  proportion  of  underfed  fami- 
lies was  as  follows :  ^ 


FAMILY    INCOMES    AND    PERCENTAGE    OF    UNDERFED    FAMIUES 
IN  EACH  INCOME  GROUP 

Per  cent.  Per  cent. 

Family  Income  of  underfed  F.^mily  Income  of  underfed 

families  families 

$400-$599 76  $900-$l,099 9 

600-799 32  ,1,100  and  over  . .     ..  0 

800-  899 22 

"This  means,"  comments  Professor  Chapin,  "that  with 
less  than  $6oo  to  spend  for  all  purposes,  an  adequate 
food  supply  is  not  provided,  and  that  on  from  $6oo 
to  $8oo  incomes,  one  family  in  three  is  underfed,  while 
less  than  one  in    lo  of  the   families  having  $900  and 

•  R.  C.  Chapin:  Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City,  p.  123. 

"<  Thid,  p.  127.  These  analyses  were  made  by  Dr.  F.  R.  Underhill,  professor 
of  physiological  chemistry  in  Yale  University,  upon  tlic  scale  of  values  adopted 
by  the   Federal   Department  of  -XgrictiUurc. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES 


371 


$1,000  to  spend  fell  short  of  the  minimum  for  food."^ 
The  point  of  inadequate  subsistence  has  also  been 
indicated  by  various  investigations  into  the  health  of 
wage-working  families  and  by  mortality  statistics.  The 
relation  of  poverty  to  disease  is  discust  in  greater 
detail  in  an  earlier  chapter,  but  it  is  perhaps  significant 
to  note  that  the  careful  studies  of  infant  mortality  by 
the  Federal  Children's  Bureau  point  to  a  very  definite 
line  of  adequate  subsistence.  In  a  steel  manufacturing 
town,  Johnstown,  Pa.,  for  example,  it  was  found  that 
unless  the  family  had  an  annual  income  of  about  $800 
or  more,  the  death  rate  among  infants  was  considerably 


^  Ibid,  p.  128.  Chapin  also  presented  statistics  as  tO'  underfed,  underclothed 
and  overcrowded  families  in  the  various  income  groups,  from  which  the  following 
tabulation  has  been  made   (p.  241): 

PER   CENT.   OF   FAMILIES   UNDERFED,   UNDERCLOTHED   AND 
OVERCROWDED,  BY  INCOME 

Per  cent,  which  were 


.2 

n3 

•a 

1 

0) 

xs 

•a 

-Si 

T3   <u 

o 
Family  Income        u 

•a 

V 

u 

.a 

•T3 

o 

o 

u 

0) 

C3    O 

a 

•T3 
u 

T3 

o 
)-• 
o 

> 

•a  > 

3 

a 

c 

> 

a 

o 

a  o 

^ 

^ 

p 

o 

D 

t) 

P 

400-$  499   .. 

..       8 

100 

88 

63 

88 

63 

50 

500-    599   .. 

..     17 

65 

88 

71 

59 

47 

53 

600-    699   .. 

..      72 

33 

63 

57 

18 

19 

39 

700-    799   .  . 

..      79 

30 

52 

58 

14 

19 

35 

800-    899   .. 

..     73 

22 

32 

53 

10 

15 

25 

900-    999    .  . 

..     63 

8 

25 

40 

3 

6 

11 

1,000-1,099    .. 

..     31 

10 

3 

30 

3 

1,100-1,199    .. 

.  .     18 

6 

21 

1,200  and  over 

..     30 

Total 


..  391 


The  size  of  the  families  included  in  the  above  statistics  was  not  less  than 
4  nor  more  than  6  persons,  the  average  size  in  each  income  group  being  approxi- 
mately 5  persons. 


372  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

above  the  average.^  Using  infant  mortality  as  an  indi- 
cator of  healthful  conditions  of  living,  this  can  be  inter- 
preted only  as  meaning  that  a  family  could  not  provide 
sanitary  housing,  healthful  environment  and  adequate 
food,  or  permit  the  mother  to  stay  at  home  and  not 
be  a  w^age-earning  member  of  the  family,  unless  the 
family  income  was  over  $800  a  year. 

Studies  of  Minimum  Standards  of  Family  Income. — 
With  the  foregoing  evidence  as  to  the  point  of  ade- 
quate subsistence,  the  results  of  several  intensive  studies 
of  minimum  standards  of  family  income  tend  to  agree. 
Giving  v^hat  seems  to  be  due  allowance  for  differences  in 
methods  of  investigation,  in  point  of  view,  and  in  con- 
ditions considered,  these  studies  by  various  authorities 
of  actual  conditions  in  workingmen's  families  may  be 
said  to  strengthen  the  estimate  that  unless  a  family  of 
the  normal  size  "  has  an  income  of  about  $800,"  it  can 
not  maintain  such  a  standard  of  living  as  we  have  had 
in  mind.  It  is  generally  agreed,  of  course,  that  a 
greater  measure  of  health   than   this   minimum  would 

'United  States  Department  of  Labor,  Children's  Bureau:  Infant  Mortality 
— Results  of  a  Field  Study  in  Johnstown,  Pa.,  p.  45.  In  families  where  the 
father  earned  less  than  $521  a  year,  or  less  than  $10  a  week,  the  infant  mor- 
tality rate  was  255.7,  as  contrasted  with  130.7  for  the  ^community  as  a  whole, 
and  it  was  three  times  as  high  as  in  families  where  the- lather  earned  $1,200  or 
more  a  year.  In  a  similar  investigation  in  Montclair,  N.  J.,  the  Children's 
Bureau  found  that  the  infant  mortality  rate  in  families  where  the  income  was 
less  than  $12  a  week  was  more  than  twice  as  high  as  in  families  where  the  income 
was  $23  or  more  a  week. 

**  A  family  of  five  persons — father,  mother,  and  three  dependent  children. 

"  R.  C.  Chapin:  Standard  of  Living  in  New  York  City;  L.  B.  More:  Wage- 
Earners'  Budgets;  New  York  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections 
committee  on  standards  of  living;  M.  Byington:  The  Households  of  a  Mill 
Town;  J.  C.  Kennedy:  Wages  and  Family  Budgets  in  the  Chicago  Stockyards 
District;  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating 
Commission,  Vol.  iv;  New  York  City  Bureau  of  Standards:  Report  on  the  Cost 
of  Living  for  an  Unskilled  Laborer's  Family. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  373 

aflford  would  be  desirable,  but  approximately  $800 
seems  to  be  regarded  as  the  least  amount  necessary 
after  paring  down  all  expenditures  for  food,  clothing, 
rent,  insurance,  health,  furnishings,  recreation  and  inci- 
dentals to  a  degree  that  hardly  seems  possible  with  the 
utmost  frugality. 

The  closeness  with  which  these  determinations  have 
been  made  will  be  clearly  evident  if  some  of  them 
are  itemized  in  some  detail  and  compared  with  an  esti- 
mate submitted  by  a  labor  union  composed  of  skilled 
workers  and  another  for  government  employees.  Dur- 
ing 191 5,  five  determinations  and  estimates  of  the 
minimum  cost  of  maintaining  a  family  appeared,  two 
of  them  being  made  by  the  New  York  Factory  Inves- 
tigating Commission,  one  by  the  New  York  City  Bureau 
of  Standards,  one  by  a  representative  of  the  legislative 
committee  of 'the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  one 
by  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street  and  Electric 
Railways.  The  last  named  was  an  estimate  used  by 
.-Ir^presentatives  of  street  railway  employees  in  the  recent 
arbitration  in  Chicago.  They  are  summarized  for 
purposes  of  comparison  in  the  table  on  p.  374. 

These  determinations  are  corroborated,  in  large  measure, 
by  other  well-recognized  investigations.  For  New  York 
City,  Professor  Chapin,  in  1907,  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  "an  income  under  $800 .  is  not  enough  to 
permit  the  maintenance  of  a  normal  standard"  for  a 
family  of  five  persons;  Mrs.  Louise  B.  More's  inves- 
tigations in  1906  pointed  to  "at  least  $728  a  year"; 
and  the  special  committee  of  the  New  York  State  Con- 


374 


CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 


ESTIMATES  OF  ANNUAL  COST  OF  LIVING  FOR  WAGE-WORKERS' 

FAMILIES  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  BUFFALO.  CHICAGO  AND 

WASHINGTON,  BASED  ON  FAMILIES  OF 

FIVE  PERSONS 


i  'J 
»^ 

^S 
t^ 

o  ^^ 

r^    O 

Items  of  ^3 

Expenditure  ^  oj 

Food $380.00 

Rent 168.00 

Fuel  and  Light 42.00 

Clothing      104.00 

Carfare        30.30 

Insurance 22.80 

Health         20.00 

Furnishings        18.00 

Newspapers        5.00 

Recreation  and  amusements  40.00 

Miscellaneous 10.00 


Total  annual 
Average   weekly 


.  >■ 

^ 

^g 

> 

«... 

s6 

as- 

fo 

V     .  0 

nl 

$325.00 

$281.00 

$529.13 

$274.00 

200.00 

120.00 

240.00 

240.00 

20.00 

40.00 

86.00 

49.00 

140.00 

140.00 

167.25 

153.00 

31.20 

31.20 

26.00 

35.60 

35.60 

20.00 

22.00 

22.00 

20.00 

7.00 

7.00 

65.50 

35.66 

5.63 

5.63 

3.00 

50.00 

50.00 

7.50 

40.00 

40.00 

45.50 

15.00 

.   $840.18         $876.43         $772.43      $1,209.88         $766.00 


$16.15 


$16.85 


$14.85 


$23.24 


$14.73 


a  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Commis- 
sion, 1915,  Vol.  iv,  p.  1668. 

t  American  Federationist,  October,  1915,  p.  837. 

c  Report  on  the  Cost  of  Living  for  an  Unskilled  Laborer's  Family  in  New 
York  City,  submitted  by  the  (New  York  City)  Bureau  of  Standards. 

(fThis  estimate  was  presented  by  Arthur  E.  Holder,  of  the  legislative  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  in  support  of  the  Nolan  bill  for  a 
$3-a-day  minimum  wage  for  government  employees  at  a  hearing  of  the  Committee 
on  Labor,  held  on  March  21,  1916.  Mr.  Holder  stated  that  $766  would  "simply 
purchase  a  bare  subsistence,"  and  is  "much  below  a  decent  living  standard." 
"You  will  observe  that  I  have  tabooed  every  form  of  'luxury,'  "  he  was  quoted 
as  commenting.  "Receiving  $765.95  a  year,  there  could  be  no  riding  on  street 
cars  for  this  workingman's  family,  no  tobacco,  no  candy,  no  books,  no  Sunday- 
school  contributions,  nothing  for  the  church;  no  newspapers,  no  movies,  no 
lodge  dues,  no  insurance,  no  postage  stamps  and  no  doctor's  bills — for,  of  course, 
on  the  'substantial'  diet  purchased  for  75  cents  a  day  a  family  of  five  would 
run  no  chance  of  ever  getting  sick.  Moreover,  the  family  must  remain  station- 
ary— no  births,  no  deaths,  no  accidents,  no  medicines,  no  doctors.  In  regard 
to  75  cents  a  day  for  food  for  a  family  of  five,  if  there  is  a  woman  in  the  District 
of  Columbia  who  can  buy  the  food  for  that  family  with  75  cents,  I  will  take  off 
my  hat  to  her  as  the  greatest  financier  in  America." 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  375 

ference  of  Charities  and  Corrections  reported  in  1907 
that  a  conservative  estimate  was  that  "$825  is  suffi- 
cient for  the  average  family  of  five  individuals"; 
Prof.  J.  C.  Kennedy's  investigations  of  the  families 
of  stockyard  workers  in  Chicago,  caused  him  to  conclude 
that  no  family  of  five  could  *'live  decently  and  efficiently 
in  the  stockyards  district"  on  less  than  $800  a  year. 
The  Pittsburgh  Survey's  investigations  in  1907  and 
1908  concluded  that  $1,291  was  a  sufficient  family 
income,  but  $200  more  was  allowed  for  "sundries" 
than  is  usually  allowed  in  other  estimates. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  resort  to  scientifically 
ascertained  facts  as  to  actual  living  conditions  to  de- 
termine that  $800,  in  round  numbers,  is  about  as  little 
as  the  ordinary  family  can  live  on  if  it  lives  health- 
fully, comfortably  and  efficiently.  A  glance  at  actual 
expenses  for  unquestionable  necessaries  should  be  suffi- 
cient. It  must  be  very  evident  that  the  family  of  aver- 
age size  living  in  the  average  industrial  town,  with  an 
income  of,  say,  $800 — if  it  must  spend  $650  or  $700 
for  food,  rent,  clothing,  and  fuel  and  light — can 
have  very  little  surplus  for  savings  or  extraordinary 
expenditures.  Out  of  what  is  left  "must  come  the 
funds  for  amusements  and  recreation,  books,  papers  and 
magazines,  lodge  and  union  dues,  benefit  and  insurance 
premiums,  sickness,  upkeep  of  household  and  kitchen 
furnishings,  and  the  hundred-and-one  in:idental  ex- 
penditures that  are  common  even  to  the  most  frugal 
households.  A  death  in  the  family  is  a  heavy  expense; 
the  birth  of  an  additional  member  of  the  family  is  a 


376  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

cause,  not  only  of  lessened  family  income  in  families 
where  the  wife  is  a  wage-earner,  but  also  of  immediate 
expense  and  the  promise  of  increasing  cost  in  the 
future.  For  we  are  speaking  of  the  'average'  family 
with  an  income  of  $700  to  $800  a  year,  which  is  con- 
sidered adequate  if  everything  'goes  right.'  But  some- 
times things  'go  wrong.'  "  ^^ 

In  the  light  of  the  evidence  which  points  to  an  annual 
family  income  of  approximately  not  less  than  $800  as 
a  reasonable  minimum  for  healthful,  efficient,  and  decent 
living  for  a  family  of  the  ordinary  size,  the  statistics 
of  wages  and  earnings  of  family  heads  and  of  annual 
incomes  of  workingmen's  families  do  not  afford  grounds 
for  gratification  over  the  economic  status  of  labor  in 
the  United  States  during  the  past  decade.  It  appears 
to  be  an  inescapable  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion, 
possibly  a  half,  of  the  wage-earners'  families  in  the 
principal  industries  of  this  country  have  been  below 
that  level  during  the  past  few  years.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  increases  in  wages  that  have  been  made  in 
the  period  of  extraordinary  demand  for  labor  and  of 
restricted  immigrant  supply  which  began  in  the  summer 
of  19 1 5  and  prevailed  through  191 6,  will  establish  all 
families  depending  upon  employable  breadwinners  so 
firmly  above  that  level — if,  indeed,  this  has  been  done 
even  in  these  very  fat  years — that  in  future  times  of  ordi- 
nary industrial  activity  and  less  restricted  immigra- 
tion, to  say  nothing  of  the  periodically  recurring  lean 


"  B.  S.  Warren  and  Kdgar  Sydenstrickcr:  Tlcaltli  Insurance — Its  Relation  to 
the  Public  Health,  Bulletin  76  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service,  March,  1916. 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  ^77 

years,  they  will  be  able  to  maintain  a  standard  of  toler- 
able living. 

The   Workingman's  Family  and  Higher  Living  Costs 

No  definite  conception  of  the  adequacy  of  wages  and 
of  family  income  is  possible,  of  course,  without  taking 
into  consideration  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living 
since  1900.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  discussion 
of  the  "race"  between  wages  and  living  costs  but,  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  comprehensive  and  exact  statistics, 
the  most  that  can  be  said  is  that  indications  point  to  an 
extremely  close  race.  It  is  manifestly  unfair,  as  some 
statisticians  have  done,  to  measure  wages  in  terms  of 
retail  food  prices  alone  without  determining  whether 
the  retail  prices  of  other  articles,  of  services,  and  of 
rent,  have  advanced  as  rapidly.  At  the  same  time, 
since  expenditures  for  food  constitute  nearly  half  of 
the  total  expenditures  of  wage-working  families,  it  is 
proper  to  conclude  that  a  60  per  cent,  increase  in  the 
retail  prices  of  the  principal  foods  must  entail  sacrifices 
either  in  diet  or  in  other  hues  of  expenditure,  or  in 
both,  unless  wages  have  advanced  to  an  equal  degree. 
It  appears  to  be  very  plain  that  in  only  a  few  occu- 
pations and  trades  has  there  been  as  much  as  a  60  per 
cent,  wage  increase  since  1900. 

Whether  average  wages  have  or  have  not  actually 
kept  up  with  the  total  cost  of  maintaining  the  wage- 
worker's  family  is  of  scarcely  less  importance  than  two 
other  considerations.  One  is  that  the  family  with  an 
income   of,   say,   $650,   which   was   found   adequate   to 


378  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

make  ends  meet  in  1900,  can  not  ordinarily  make  ends 
meet  now,  and  there  are  many  such  famihes  with 
equally  as  great  demands  and  necessities  as  then.  Even 
the  the  average  family  may,  because  of  increases  in 
wages  and  of  the  employment  of  its  women  and  children, 
have  kept  its  income  apace  with  the  advancing  cost  of 
living,  the  pressure  of  higher  living  cost  still  falls 
heavily  upon  those  who  are  below  the  average.  The 
other  consideration  is  that  the  social  standard  of  mini- 
mum subsistence  has  become  more  costly.  New  de- 
sires and  new  wants  have  been  created,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  assume  that  the  wage-working  family  has  not 
been  affected  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  family  of 
the  business  man,  the  banker,  the  office  worker,  or  even 
the  farmer.  Certain  changes  in  the  manner  of  living 
have  occurred  that  probably  the  wage-working  family, 
as  well  as  any  other  family,  could  well  do  without; 
there  are  other  changes,  however,  which  have  been 
brought  about  in  response  to  those  wants  whose  creation 
has  been  the  mark  of  advancing  civilization.  Good  or 
bad,  changes  in  the  customs  and  manner  of  living  can 
not  be  overlooked  in  considering  the  question  of  ade- 
quacy of  wages  and  family  income.  They  are  social 
products  for  which  we  can  blame  the  wage-working 
population  least  of  all.  The  fact  which  is  of  distinct 
pertinence  here  is  that  even  if  the  levels  of  prices  and 
wages  had  remained  without  change  since  1900,  the 
cost  of  living  would  have  increased,  because  the  social 
standard  of  living  has  become  more  expensive.  To 
live  adequately  to-day  costs  more  than  it  did  even  ten  or 


IN   AMERICAN   INDUSTRIES  379 

fifteen  years  ago,  not  simply  because  prices  have  gone 
up,  but  because  our  standards  of  health,  comfort,  and 
efficiency  are  more  exacting,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cost 
of  satisfying  those  new  desires  which  we  might  do 
without. 

Aside  from  these  considerations,  however,  the  facts, 
so  far  as  they  are  available  from  statistical  sources,  of 
higher  living  costs  in  relation  to  wages  and  income 
deserve  to  be  mentioned  because  of  their  importance  in 
throwing  light  on  present  conditions.  The  statistics 
of  full-time  vv^eekly  wages  furnished  for  a  number 
of  trades  and  industries  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  appear  to  indicate  that  up  to  19 15  the  average 
increase  has  been  between  25  and  30  per  cent,  since 
1900.^^  These  figures  are  possibly  too  high  since  the 
statistics  may  include  a  disproportionate  number  of  well 
unionized  skilled  trades  whose  wage  rates  have 
advanced  more  rapidly  than  those  of  unskilled 
occupations.  In  contrast  may  be  presented  statistics 
of  prices.  Unfortunately,  statistics  of  retail  prices 
are  available  only  for  foods,^*  but  at  least  some 
idea  of  the  advance  in  prices  of  other  articles  may  be 
gained  from  the  wholesale  price  statistics  furnished  by 
various  governmental  and  commercial  authorities.     Se- 

"  See  the  discussion  by  I.  M.  Rubinow,  Chief  Statistician  of  the  Ocean 
Accident  and  Guarantee  Corporation:  The  Trend  of  Real  Wages,  American 
Economic  Review,   December,   1914,  pp.   793-817. 

The  wage  statistics  used  by  Dr.  Rubinow  in  his  computation  are  those  regu- 
larly published  in  the  retail  price  bulletins  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
and  cover  cotton  goods,  woolen  goods,  silk,  boots  and  shoes,  knit  goods,  lumber, 
millwork,  furniture,  building  trades,  bakers,  marble  and  stone  cutting,  foundry 
and  machine  shops  and  printing. 

"  See  Bulletins  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  on  Retail  Prices 
of   Foods. 


38o  CONDITIONS    OF   LABOR 

lecting  the  statistics  for  those  items  of  expenditure 
which  we  have  seen  to  be  the  principal  necessaries,  the 
advances  in  prices  from  1900  to  1913  may  be  roughly 
stated  as   follows: 

Per  cent. 
of  increase 
Item  1900-1913 

Food :  retail  a 62 

wholesale 31-52 

Clothing  (and  cloth)  :  wholesale 16-20 

Fuel:  retail  (coal,  1907-1913)       5-10 

Fuel  and  lighting:  wholesale 17 

Housing:  wholesale  prices  of  lumber  and  building 

materials       31 

Wages  of  building  labor        45 

Household  furnishings :  wholesale       11 

a  Retail  price  data  exist  for  only  food  and  coal,  and  are  supplied  by  the 
records  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  For  the  other  items  only 
wholesale  price  data  are  available,  and  are  therefore  not  adequately  indicative 
of  the  full  extent  of  their  advance  in  the  prices  paid  by  the  ultimate  consumer. 
The  wholesale  price  data  are  supplied  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 
Bradstreet's,  R.  G.  Dun  &  Company,  the  New  York  Times  Annalist,  and  Thomas 
Gibson.  Where  two  figures  are  given  in  the  summary  for  one  item,  the  mini- 
mum and  maximum  results,  as  shown  by  different  authorities,  are  indicated. 

The  increased  cost  of  maintaining  the  wage-working 
family  can  not,  of  course,  be  stated  definitely  on  the 
basis  of  such  statistics  as  the  above,  but  a  suggestive 
illustration  is  pertinent : 

The  extensive  budgetary  investigation  of  working- 
men's  families  conducted  by  the  Federal  Bureau  of 
Labor  in  1901  ^^ — before  the  advance  in  prices  began 
to  be  markedly  evident — found  that  the  "normal"  fam- 
ily was  able  to  subsist  and  even  have  savings  upon  an 
income  of  between  $600  and  $700  a  year,  according 
to  the  standard  of  living  then  existing.^^     The  average 

"  See  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1903. 

"  By  "normal"  family  was  meant  the  family  in  which  the  man  is  the  bread- 
winner and  the  wife  nonwage-carning,  and  the  children  under  fourteen  years 
of   age  and   dependent. 


IN  AMERICAN  INDUSTRIES  381 

family  in  that  range  of  annual  income  was  found  to 
have  an  expenditure  of  $612  for  all  purposes  at  prices 
then  prevailing.  This  amount  was  found  to  be  spent 
approximately  in  the  following  manner : 

Per  cent, 
of  total 
Item  Amount  expenditure 

Food       $266  43.5 

Rent        113  18.5 

Fuel  and  light      35  6.0 

Clothing 79  13.0 

Sundries 119  20.0 

Applying  the  percentages  of  increase  in  the  various 
items  of  expenditure,  what  would  the  same  family 
have  required  to  maintain  the  same  standards  in,  say, 
1913,  as  it  did  before  the  great  price  advance  began? 

Wherever  retail  price  data  are  available,  they  may, 
of  course,  be  used.  In  the  case  of  wholesale  price 
data,  it  seems  to  be  conservative  to  use  the  highest 
percentages  computed  from  the  various  wholesale  price 
authorities.  In  the  case  of  rent,  35  is  used  as  the 
percentage  of  increase,  taking  into  consideration  both 
the  higher  cost  of  building  materials  and  the  higher 
labor  cost.  This  seems  to  be  very  conservative  in  the 
light  of  statistics  of  actual  rent  increases  for  shorter 
periods  than  the  1 900-1913  period. 

Upon  this  conservative  basis,  the  following  results 
appear  (see  the  table  on  p.  382). 

Allowing  for  no  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  "sun- 
dries" actually  bought  or  necessitating  expenditures,  and 
for  no  increase  in  the  number  of  "sundry"  expendi- 
tures  to   meet   the   broadened   and   greater   variety   of 


382 


CONDITIONS  OF  LABOR 


wants  in  1913,  as  compared  with  1900,  the  cost  of  main- 
taining a  family  according  to  the  same  standard  now 
as  then  would  have  been  over  $200  greater,  or  an 
increase  of  35  per  cent. 

Item  of  Amount  Amount 

Expenditure  expended  Increase  necessary 

in  1900  in  price  in  1913 

Food      $266  62  $430a 

Rent       113  35  152 

Fuel  and  light    ....  35  17  41 

Clothing        79  8  85 

Sundries       119  ..  119 

Total      $612  ..  $827 

a  It  is  significant  to  note  that  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service  paid 
about  35  cents  a  day  for  a  well-balanced  ration  sufficient  to  supply  an  adult  male 
with  3,000  to  3,500  calories  a  day  for  its  marine  hospital  employees,  etc.,  in  1914. 
On  this  basis,  the  annual  cost  of  food  for  a  family  as  defined  above  (3.3  adult 
male  units),  would  be  approximately  $420  a  year.  The  cost  of  the  United  States 
Public  Health  Service  ration  was  based  on  retail  prices  prevailing  during  the 
year,  and  the  food  was  purchased  under  annual  contract.  The  contract  prices 
would  be  somewhat  lower  than  ordinary  retail  prices,  but  the  quality  of  food 
was  of  the  be.st  grades.     Hence  the  figure,  $430,  is  believed  to  be  conservative. 

It  would  be  improper,  of  course,  to  attempt  anything 
like  an  exact  estimate  of  the  increase  in  family  living 
costs  by  such  a  method,  and  by  such  data  as  have  been 
employed  in  the  foregoing  illustration.  Statistics  such 
as  these  are  possibly  of  some  value  because  they 
serve  to  stimulate  a  consideration  of  the  economic 
status  of  the  wage-earning  population  in  definite  and 
understandable  terms.  They  are  not,  however,  wholly 
without  value  as  indicating  the  actual  trend  of  condi- 
tions, especially  when  individual  experience,  frequently 
appearing  observations,  and  conclusions  of  careful 
students  of  conditions  so  positively  tend  to  corroborate 
them.     They  may  be  accepted  in  a  general  way  as  sug- 


IN  AMERICAN  INDUSTRIES  383 

gesting  the  manner  in  which  higher  Hving  costs  have 
affected  wage-working  famiHes.  To  state  it  conserva- 
tively, the  effect  of  the  increased  cost  of  living  has  been 
to  nullify,  in  large  measure,  the  advantages  gained  by 
wage  increases  and  by  sacrifices  made  by  the  wives  and 
children  of  workingmen  in  entering  industrial  em- 
ployment. 


INDEX  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


38s 


INDEX 


A.  F.  of  L.,  11,  12,  373. 

Accident  disability,  causes  of  unem- 
ployment, 316-317. 

Accidents,  industrial,  192-212;  causes 
of,  197,  320;  causes  of  fatal  ac- 
cidents, in  Mass.,  1912-13,  200, — in 
Calif.,  1915,  200;  comparative  per- 
centages of  fatal  accidents  in  fac- 
tories in  New  York,  1911-14,  by 
main  causes,  198;  due  to  power 
machinery,  199;  duration  of  dis- 
ability in  injuries  received,  in 
Mass.,  1913,  209,  in  Ohio,  1914, 
210;  economic  significance,  207, 
208;  estimate  of  fatal  accidents  in 
the  U.  S.  in  1913,  by  industry 
groups,  195;  extent  of,  192-193;  in 
coal  mining,  202;  mortality  from, 
U.  S.  Registration  Area  by  age 
groups  in  specific  occupations,  196, 
by  occupation  and  age  groups; 
Prudential  Experiment,  197;  nature 
of  injuries,  203,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  1911-13,  204,  by  parts 
of  the  body  injured,  1911-13,  205; 
number  and  percent  of  men  killed 
and  injured  in  metal  mines  and 
quarries  in  the  U.  S.,  1912,  206; 
slight  injuries  become  serious,  206- 
207;  see  also;  injuries  occupational 
accident   hazards. 

Agricultural  implements  and  vehicles, 
2,  6,  34,  357. 

Agriculturists,    318. 

Alabama,  308. 

Alien  races,  1;  (see  also  Labor  force.) 

Alton,   111.,    124. 

Amalgamated  Association  of  Street 
and  Electric  Railways,  373. 

Amalgamated   Engineers,    13. 

American,  267,  274,  277,  278,  284, 
287,  288,  291,  295,  300,  302,  303, 
311,  315. 

American  Association  for  Labor 
Legislation,  334. 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  11,  12, 
373. 

American  industries;  racial  distribu- 
tion, 5;  foreign  born  wage-earners, 
2;  investigation,  U.  S.  Immigration 
Commission,  summary   1. 


American    Iron    and    Steel    Institute, 

339. 
American   Labor   Legislation    Review, 

331. 
Americans,      native,      1;      black,      2; 

white  1. 
Amusements,  228,  273. 
Analysis    of    the    causes    of    loss    in 

working  time  or  unemployment,  117. 
Andrews,  Mrs.  Irene  Osgood,  79,  365. 
Anemic  workers,  332. 
Annual  earnings  of  wage-workers,  61. 
Anthracite  coal  miners,  279. 
Apartment,  280,  292,  293,  297. 
Armenians,  6. 

Artificial  flower  making,  S3. 
Augusta,  Ga.,  124. 
Austria-Hungary,  6,  8,  10. 
Austro-Hungarian,    3,    211,   287,    289, 

329. 


Babbage,    Charles,  234. 

Bacon,  284,  286. 

Bakers,  331. 

Bakery  work,  17. 

Balkans,  5. 

Baltimore,  125,  265,  291. 

Bankruptcy,  282. 

Barbers,    17. 

Barley,  286. 

Barnett,  Geo.  E.,  11,  19. 

Bartenders,  331. 

Baton  Rouge,  124. 

Bayonne,  307. 

Beans,  283,  284;  dried,  286. 

Beef,  289;  corned,  286;  fresh,  283, 
285,  286. 

Bethlehem   Steel   Works,   33. 

Better  classes,   310. 

Beveridge,  W.   H.,   73,   156. 

Bill  posters,  17. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  304. 

Biscuit,  286. 

Bituminous  coal  miners,  279,  coal 
mining. 

Blacksmiths,  13. 

Board,  297;  (see  also  lodgers;  lodg- 
ing.) 

Boarders,  266,  269,  295-301,  360,  362, 
367;   (see  also  lodgers.) 


387 


388 


INDEX 


Boarding,  296-298;  group,  boarding, 
301. 

Boarding  boss   system,   299. 

Boarding  houses,   289,  301,   302. 

Bohemians,  3,  6,  10. 

Boiler  makers,  13. 

Bookbinders,  15. 

Bookbinding,  IS,   19,  37. 

Books,   273. 

Boot  and  shoe  cutters,  15. 

Boot  and  shoe  factories,  Haverhill, 
Mass.,   Lynn,   Mass.,   307. 

Boot  and  shoe  work,  15. 

Booth,  Charles,   166. 

Boots  and  shoes,  2,  6,  34,  53. 

Boston,  104,  125,  294,  295,  302,  305; 
home-owning,   305. 

Boxes,  34,  53. 

Boxmakers  and   sawyers,   16. 

Bradstreet's,  380. 

Bread,  285,  289,  290;  rye,  286;  wheat, 
286;  wheaten  284;  other,  286. 

Breadwinner,  360. 

Breakfast  cereal,  286. 

Brewery  work,  17. 

Brick  and  tile  work,   16. 

Bricklayers  and  masons,   12. 

Bridge  and  Iron  work,  10. 

British,  268. 

British  Board  of  Trade,  267,  268,  274, 
284,  291,  292,  302,  303,  369;  (see 
also  Great  Britain  Board  of  Trade.) 

British  born,  285. 

Brockton,  Mass.,  303. 

Brooklyn,    291. 

Broom  makers,  17. 

Brush  makers,  17,  53. 

Buffalo,  125,  294,  295,  374;  home-own- 
ing, 305. 

Building  laborers,  12. 

Bulgarian.   6.  294,  299,  300. 

Buns,  286. 

Butter,  284,  286. 

Byington,  M.,  372. 

Cairo,  111.,  124, 

Cakes.   286,   290. 

California  Industrial  Accident  Com- 
mission, 200. 

California  Industrial  Welfare  Com- 
mission, 45,   49,  51. 

Camps,  temporary,  296,  297. 

Canada,  6,  8,  10,  269. 

Canadian,  9,  10,  38;  French-Canadian, 
5.  7. 

Canneries,  34.  53. 

Cap  makers,  IS. 

Car  building  and  repairing,  8. 

Car  work,  13. 

Carpenters,  331;  United,  12. 


Carpet  manufacturing,  8,  10. 

Carriage   work,   13. 

Casual  labor  and  laborers,  333. 

Causes  of  industrial  accidents,   197. 

Cement  work,  12. 

Cereals,  287. 

Chandelier  work,  13. 

Chapin,  R.  C.  267,  369,  371,  373. 

Charity,  273. 

Charity  Organization  Society,  New 
York,  172,  350. 

Charity  relief,  314. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  124. 

Cheese,  286. 

Chemical  group,   16. 

Chicago,  125,  265-268.  291,  294,  295. 
302,  305,  308,  374,  375;  home- 
owning,  305. 

Children,  25,  265-271,  273,  276,  281. 
285,  289,  292,  333;  age  groups,  26, 
27;  average  number  at  home,  270; 
employment  of,  25;  health  of,  314; 
illness,  321;  in  industry,  26,  27. 

Children's  Bureau  (see  U.  S.  Chil- 
dren's Bureau). 

Chocolate,  286. 

Cigarmakers,  17,  331. 

Cigars  and  tobacco,  2,  6,  34,  54,  359. 

Cincinnati,    125. 

Cities,  industrial,  293. 

Cities,  large,  305;  congested  districts, 
305. 

Citizen,  306. 

Citizenship.  363. 

City,  residential  section,  slums,  tene- 
ment, working-class  section,  306. 

City  employees,  16. 

Class  distinction  in  Public  Administra- 
tion, 310. 

Qerks,  331. 

Cleveland,  125,  291,  294,  295,  339. 

Clinic,  228. 

Cloth  hat  and  cap  makers,  15. 

Clothweavers,  13. 

Clothing.  2,  6,  15,  19,  35.  54,  272-274, 
277,  281,  359,  381;  rise  in  prices, 
380. 

(Tlothing  manufacturing,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  307;  workers.  279. 

Coal.  Alabama,  Colorado,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Virginia,  West  Virginia.  308. 

Coal  mines.  Penn..  308. 

Coal  mining,  anthracite,  359;  bitumi- 
nous, 6,  359. 

Cocoa.  2S6. 

Coffee,  286,  289. 

Cohoes,  N.  Y.,  124,  307. 

Collar  and  cuff  workers,  6,  279,  307, 
359. 

Colorado,  308. 


INDEX 


389 


Comfort,  272,  282,  289,  292. 

Commercial   telegraphers,    14. 

Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  on 
the  New  York  Dock  Worker,  145. 

Communities,  industrial,  303;  where  a 
single  plant  affords  the  entire  de- 
mand for  labor,  304;  mining,  291, 
294,  298,  304. 

Community,  industrial,  291,  292;  man- 
ufacturing, 294. 

Community  environment,  283,  305, 
306-312,  322;  as  cause  of  ill-health, 
313;  unfavorable,  effects  of,  338. 

Community  study,  289. 

Community  well-being,  310. 

Compensation  laws,  Legislation,  314. 

Composition   roofers,    12. 

Comprest  air  workers,  12. 

Condiments,  286. 

Conditions  causing  irregular  employ- 
ments, 117-175. 

Conditions  determining  the  workers 
ability  to  grasp  or  retain  the  oppor- 
tunity to  be  employed,  164. 

Confectionery,  35,  54. 

Congestion,  291,  293-295,  298,  305; 
as  cause  of  ill  health,  313. 

Construction  work,  6. 

Contentment,  272. 

Cooke,  M.  L.,  161. 

Coopers,  16. 

Cooperative  Employment  Bureau,  San 
Francisco,  171,  333. 

Copper  miners,  279. 

Copper  mining  and  smelting,  2,  6,  35, 
359. 

Corn,  sweet,  286. 

Cornmeal,  284,  286. 

Corsets,  35,  54. 

Cost  of  living,  267;  annual,  for  wage- 
earners'  families,  374;  rise  in,  280; 
study  of,  by  Bureau  of  Labor,   106. 

Cotton  goods  manufacturing,  2,  6,  35, 
.     55,  359. 
"Cotton  mill  workers,  279. 

Ctackers,  286. 

'Croatians,  3,  5,  7,  9,  10,  38,  289,  294, 
298-300,  303. 

Croxton.  Fred.  C,  45,  209. 

Cuban,  7. 

Cumberland,  Md.,  124. 

Cutlery  and  tool  manufacturing,  8. 

Cutting  die  makers,  13. 

Danish,  7. 

Darlington,  Th.,  339. 
Daughters,  301. 

Death,  273;  (see  also  Mortality). 
Death    rate,    excess    of    female    over 
male,  343. 


Decency,  282,  289,  292,  297. 

Deficiencies  of  character,  165. 

De  Kalb,  111.,  308. 

Denominational  industries,  311. 

Destroyed  efficiency,  cause  of  sickness, 
321. 

Detroit,  125,  291. 

Devine,  E.  T.,  352. 

Diamond  work,  13. 

Diet,  277,  281,  283-285,  287-289,  321; 
balanced,  290;  inadequate,  334;  in- 
nutritious,  cause  of  ill  health,  313; 
insufficient,  cause  of  sickness,  321; 
of  wage-working  families,  283-290; 
properly  balanced,  lack  of,  334. 

Differences  in  family  income  accord- 
ing to  geographic  divisions,  250;  ac- 
cording to  industry,  251. 

Disability,  316. 

Discouragement,  cause  of  sickness, 
321. 

Disease,  333;  causes  of,  in  the  wage- 
earners'  work  and  environments, 
313,  314;  caused  by  occupational 
hazards,  328;  occupational  factors 
in,  318;  occupational  hazards,  321- 
330;  organized  prevention  of,  314; 
prevalence  among  industrial  work- 
ers, 317-321;  uncertain  income, 
cause  of,  330. 

Diseases  of  the  arteries,  digestive  sys- 
tem, heart,  kidneys,  nervous  system, 
320. 

Dishonesty,  165. 

Distribution  of  wage-working  families 
according  to«income,  249. 

Dock  Workers,  N.  Y.,  157,  333;  Cora- 
mission  on  Industrial  Relations  on 
the  New  York  Dock  Worker,  145. 

Doughnuts,   286. 

Dripping,  286. 

Dublin,  Louis  K.,  316. 

Duke,  Emma,  339. 

Dull  seasons,  150,  331. 

Duluth,    291. 

Dun,   R.   G.,  &  Co.,  380. 

Dusts,  323. 

Dutch,  7,  304. 

Dwelling,  280;  employer-owned,  314; 
(see  also,  house,  housing,  living  con- 
ditions). 

Earnings,  361;  annual,  full  term,  361; 
estimates  based  upon  daily  and 
hourly  rates  have  not  been  em- 
ployed, X. 

Earnings,  weekly,  Massachusetts  State 
Report,  31. 


390 


INDEX 


Economic  factors  affecting  the  health 
of  the  wage-working  population,  321- 
325. 

Economic  significance  of  industrial  ac- 
cidents, 207. 

Economic  status,  269;  inequalities  of, 
309. 

Economic  uncertainty,  causes  of  sick- 
ness, 321. 

Economist,  interest  in  health  of  wage- 
earners,  313. 

Educational  facilities,  282. 

Effects  of  unemployment,   169. 

Efficiency  destroyed,  cause  of  sickness, 
321. 

Efficiency  of  worker  impaired  by  ir- 
regular employment,  313. 

Eggs,  286. 

Elastic   goring  weavers,    13. 

Electric  railway  transportation,  8. 

Electric  supplies  manufacturing,  2,  8, 
10. 

Electrical  work  (A.  F.  L.),  12. 

Electrotypers,  15. 

Elevator  constructor,  12. 

Emerson,  Harrington,  235. 

Emmet,  Boris,  220. 

Employees,  304. 

Employer,  interest  in  health  of  wage- 
earners,  313;  owner  of  all  property, 
311;  reforms  by,  309;  permanency 
of  worker's  residence  advantage  to, 
304. 

Employer-owned  buildings,  safeguards, 
sanitary  conveniences,  314. 

Employers'  welfare  work  (see  Welfare 
work). 

Employment,  evolutionary  changes  af- 
fecting, 119;  methods  of,  changes 
in,  120;  decrease  in  wage-earners', 
123,  124;  increase  in  wage-earners', 
123,  125. 

Employment,  irregular,  152,  296;  an- 
alysis of  the  causes  of  loss  in  work- 
ing-time or  unemployment,  117; 
changes  in  demand  for  labor  accord- 
ing to  industry,  122;  according  to 
locality,  123;  due  to  the  introduction 
of  machinery  and  new  processes, 
130;  changes  in  industrial  structure 
and  methods,  120;  changes  in  or- 
ganization of  industry,  130;  fluctua- 
tions, cyclical,  139;  fluctuations, 
seasonal,  141;  in  silk  mills,  153, 
154;  in  steel  mills,  158;  of  dock- 
workers,  157,  158;  of  stockyards, 
158-160;  of  canning  industry,  173; 
(see  also  Unemployment,  Working 
day). 


Employment  Bureau,  San  Francisco 
Cooperative,  171,  333. 

Employment  of  children,  25. 

Employment  of  women,  342. 

Employment  Offices,  workers  placed, 
109. 

Engel.  370. 

Engineers,  Amalgamated,   13. 

England,  6,  8,  10,  269. 

English.  5,  7,  9,  10,  38,  136,  277,  287, 
289,  303.  311.  320. 

English,  instruction  in,  for  foreigners, 
228. 

Engravers,  photo,  15. 

Environment  (see  Community  envi- 
ronment, Health). 

Environment,  proper,  two  reasons  why 
not  available  for  all  citizens,  309- 
312. 

Europe,  eastern,  279,  287,  303;  north- 
ern, 287;  western,  279,  287. 

European  sickness  insurance  society, 
328. 

European  statistics  on  tuberculosis, 
336. 

Evolutionary  changes  affecting  em- 
ployment, 119. 

Excessive  fatigue,  caused  by  work- 
ing conditions,  325-328. 

Expenditures,  273,  275;  of  wage-earn- 
ing families,  271. 

Exposure,  333. 

Extent  of  Trade  Union  membership, 
11. 

Factories,  movement  for  better  condi- 
tions in,  323;  safeguards,  314;  sani- 
tary conveniences,  314. 

Fall  River,  Mass.,  124,  125,  307,  348. 

Families,  289,  290,  293,  297;  Austro- 
Hungarian,  287;  English,  287;  Ger- 
man, 287;  Irish,  287;  Italian,  287; 
native  American,  287;  native  white, 
287,  288,  292;  newer  immigrant, 
287;  older  immigrant,  292;  Russian, 
287;  Scotch,  287;  Welsh,  287;  home- 
owning  heads  of,  American,  Croa- 
tian, English,  European,  Greek,  He- 
brew, Irish,  Magyar,  Portuguese, 
Roumanian,  Ruthenian,  Russian, 
Scotch,  Servian,  Syrian;  size  of, 
371;  over-crowded,  371;  underfed, 
370,  371;  underclothed,  371. 

Families,  Wage-earner's,  280,  281-285, 
289,  291,  292,  295;  (see  also  Wage- 
earners). 

Family,  333;  expenditures,  268,  271- 
283;  expenses,  300;  income,  370; 
income,  adequacy  of,  366;  income, 
sources  of,   267;   income,  what  part 


INDEX 


391 


of  spent  for  subsistence,  clothing, 
and  shelter,  272;  life,  297;  number 
of  persons  per,  285 ;  other  members, 
267;  workingman's,  average  size, 
368;  savings  proportionate  tO'  size 
of,  277. 

Family  income,  minimum  standards, 
372. 

Family  subsistence,  minimum  stand- 
ard, 360. 

Farmers,  331. 

Farr,  William,  348. 

Father,  266-271,  294. 

Fatigue,   excessive,  325-335. 

Fatty  foods,  284,  287. 

Federal  Post  Office  Clerks'  Associa- 
tion,  16. 

Federal  .  .  .  All  other  headings  be- 
ginning with  (see  U.  S.,  followed 
by  name  of  bureau). 

Filth,  accumulation  of,  335. 

Finnish,  7,  38. 

Firearms  manufacturing,  2,  8. 

Fish,  286,  287. 

Fishberg,  Maurice,  336,  337. 

Flint  glass  work,   16. 

Food,  272-278;  284,  285,  287-290,  381; 
expenditures,  278,  280,  281,  284, 
288;  price  of,  272-274,  278,  281,  285, 
289;  rise  in  prices,  335,  380. 

Food,  liquor  and  tobacco,  19. 

Food  prices,  meat  and  other  protein 
food,  335. 

Foods,  fatty,  284,  287;  protein,  283, 
287;  retail  prices  of,  379,  380; 
sUrchy,  284.  287. 

Foreign,  277,  279. 

Foreign-born,  263,  298, 

Foreign-born  wage-earners,  2;  in  in- 
dustries, 2  (see  also  Wage-earners, 
foreign). 

Foundry,  employees,  13. 

Foundry  and  machine  shops,  2,  8,  10. 

Fleming,  Ralph  D.,  xi. 

Flour,  284,  287;  buckwheat,  286;  rye, 
286;  wheat,  286. 

Fluctuations,  cyclical,  139;  seasonal, 
141  (see  also  employment,  irregu- 
lar). 

France,  6. 

Frankel,  Lee  K.,  316. 

French,  7,  298. 

French-Canadian,  5,  7. 

Frey,  243. 

Fruits,  284,  286. 

Fuel,  272,  273,  274,  277,  281;  rise  in 
prices,  380. 

Fuel  and  light,  380. 

Fumes,  323. 

Fur  work,  17. 


Furniture  manufacturing,  2,  6,  35,  55, 
215,  359. 

Gain  sharing,  234;  (see  also  profit- 
sharing). 

Gantt,  H.  L.,  235. 

Garment  workers,  IS,  331;  New  York 
City,  327. 

Gases,  323. 

General  nativity  and  race,  6. 

Germans,  3,  5,  7,  38,  136,  277,  279, 
294,  298,  304,  320,  329. 

Germany,  6,  8,  9,  10. 

Gibson,  Thomas,  380. 

Glass,  6,  36,  55,  307,  308,  359;  work- 
ers 279,  308,  331. 

Glass  bottle  blowers,  16. 

Glass  manufacturing,  2. 

Glass  work,  amalgamated,  16. 

Glove  work,  15. 

Gloves,  6,  359. 

Goldberger,  334. 

Government  employees,  16. 

Granite  cutters,  279,  287. 

Great  Britain,  279,  287;  Board  of 
Trade,  268,  274,  284,  291,  292,  302. 

Greek,  7,  9,  10,  303. 

Group  boarding  301. 

Group  lodging,  301. 

H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Co.,  231. 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  124. 

Ham,  283,  286. 

Hammond,  Ind.,  124. 

Hardware  and  cutlery,  307. 

Harmful  conditions  in  places  of  em- 
ployment, 323. 

Harmful  substances,  323. 

Hat  and  cap  makers,  15. 

Hatters,  15. 

Haverhill,  307. 

Hawaii,  176. 

Hayhurst,  E.  R.,  318. 

Hazards  from  harmful  substances,  212- 
219. 

Health,  272,  282,  292,  297;  and  income 
of  male  garment  workers,  347;  as 
an  economic  necessity,  314,  315;  ef- 
fects of  unfavorable  community  en- 
vironment upon  wage-earners,  338; 
irregularity  of  employment  and, 
330;  public  service,  315;  sanitation, 
313;  wage-earners,  315-356. 

Health  insurance,  328;  governmental, 
for  wage-earners,  314;  its  relation 
to  the  public  health,  315. 

Health  promotion,  systematic  methods 
for,  314. 

Heat  and  asbestos  work,  12. 

Heavy  industries,  186. 


392 


INDEX 


Hebrews,  136,  294,  299,  300,  303;  Rus- 
sian. 7. 

High  cost  of  living,  377. 

Higher  cost  of  living,  and  the  work- 
ingman's  family,  377. 

Hod  carriers,  12. 

Hoffman,  Fred.  L.,  192. 

Hog  products,  fresh,  287;  salt,  287. 

Holder.  Arthur  E.,  374. 

Holyoke,  307. 

Home,  321. 

Home-owners,  303-305. 

Homes,  ownership  of,  283,  302-305. 

Homestead,  Pa.,  124. 

Horoeworkers,  265. 

Homeworking,  265. 

Hop  growing,  151. 

Horseshoers,  17. 

Horst  Company,  151. 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods,  8,  10,  26,  55, 
307. 

Hotel  employees,  17. 

Hotel  work,   17. 

Hours  of  Labor,  176;  eight-hour  limit 
in  28  states,  117;  eight-hour  day  se- 
cured by  agreements  with  employers, 
178,179;  employers' attitude  toward, 
325;  nine-hour  limit  in  27  states, 
177;  ten-hour  limit  in  Oregon,  177, 
178;  limitations  by  states,  176;  trend 
toward  a  shorter  day,  176;  in  the 
machines  trade,  179,  180;  in  the 
men's  clothing  industry,  180,  181; 
in  the  cotton  goods  manufacturing 
industries,  181;  in  the  silk  goods 
manufacturing,  182;  in  the  shoe  in- 
dustry, 182;  in  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustry, 182;  legislation,  326  (see 
also  working  day,  profit  sharing, 
labor  and  scientific  management, 
employers'  welfare  work). 

House,  280,  292;  single  family,  291, 
297;  two-family,  291;  three-family, 
291. 

Houses,  company,  304;  detached,  304; 
hideous  sameness,  308;  owned  by 
employer,  304;  rented,  304;  scorn 
of  architectural  art,  308;  smaller, 
Philadelphia,  305. 

Household.  279,  296,  299,  305;  family, 
298,  300;  head,  nativity  of,  298; 
head  of,  279,  294,  299,  300;  immi- 
grant, newer,  300;  immigrant,  older, 
300;  large  cities,  305;  native,  300; 
single  family,  298;  wage-earners, 
280.  297. 

Household  furnishings,  rise  in  prices 
of.  380. 

Housing,  273,  283;  conditions,  289, 
291-295;  expenditures,   280;   rise  in 


prices  of  lumber,  380;  shacks,  291; 

tenement,  291. 
Hoxie,  Robert  Franklin,  237. 
Humanitarians,  356. 
Hungarian,  136. 
Hungary  hollows,  306. 
Husband,   265-267,   269-270,    273,   277, 

292,  300,  333. 
Hygiene,  324. 


I.  W.  W.  (Chicago),  17. 

Ignorance,  345. 

Immigrant,  276-279,  288;  newer,  288, 
289-293,  295,  296-299;  newer,  chil- 
dren of,  289;  older,  298. 

Immigrant  colony,  308. 

Immigrant  communities,  types  of,  306- 
308. 

Immigrant  group,  older,  279;  newer, 
279. 

Immigrants,  266,  278,  287,  288;  ad- 
mitted since  1890,  135;  eastern  Eu- 
rope, 310,  311;  exploited,  311;  re- 
cent, 307;  southern  Europe,  310, 
311. 

Immigration  races,  older,  288,  293. 

Immigration,  newer,  38,  306;  older, 
38;  recent,  308. 

Immigration  Commission  (see  U.  S. 
Immigration  Commission). 

Immigration  problem,  307. 

Inability   to   speak    English,   311. 

Income,  288-290;  average  weekly,  270; 
average  weekly,  husband,  270;  clas- 
sified, 275;  husband's,  300;  mini- 
mum standards  of  family,  372;  of 
workers,  279-281,  289,  330. 

Income  and  health  of  male  garment 
workers,  347. 

Income  of  $650  in  1900,  377,  378;  to- 
day, 378,  379. 

Incomes,  annual,  of  wage-working 
families,  246;  families,  370;  sources 
of,  253. 

Increased  cost  of  living  nullified  ad- 
vantages gained  by  wage  increases, 
383. 

Independent  workers  of  the  world, 
17. 

Indiana,  308,  325;  Commission  of 
working  women.  89. 

Indianapolis,   125. 

Individual,  290. 

Industrial  accidents  (see  accidents,  in- 
dustrial). 

Industrial  Commission,  Ohio,  32. 

Industrial  communities,  303,  304. 

Industrial  community,  291,  292,  294- 
296,  306.  308. 


INDEX 


393 


Industrial  establishments  not  free  from 
unhygienic  conditions,  324;  forces, 
1;  health  hazards,  324;  localities, 
305,  310;  occupations,  306;  workers, 
1.  282. 

Industrial  Relation  on  the  New  York 
Dock  Worker,   Commission   on,   145. 

Industries,  denominational,  311;  para- 
sitic, 172;  racial  distribution,  5. 

Industries  in  which  wage-earners  were 
employed  72  hours  or  more,  189 
(see  also  employment,  working  day). 

Industry,  changes  in  organization  of, 
130. 

Infants,  illness,  321. 

Influential  citizens,  collective  power 
of,  309. 

Injuries,  nature  of,  203-212  (see  also 
accidents,  industrial;  occupational 
accident  hazards). 

Insanitary  conditions  in  places  of 
work.  217. 

Insurance,  273. 

Intemperance,  165. 

Interest,  273. 

International  Cooperative  Congress, 
Paris,   1889,  220. 

Ireland,  6,  8,  10,  269,  303. 

Irish,  5,  7,  9,  10,  38,  136,  277,  279, 
287.  294,  298. 

Iron  and  steel,  6,  36,  308,  359;  manu- 
facturing, 2;  workers,  279,  331. 

Iron  ore  manufacturing,  6,  359. 

Iron  ore  mining,  2,  307,  308. 

Iron,  steel  and  tin  work,  13. 

Iron  work,   10. 

Irregular  employment,  effects  on 
workers,  332;  effect  on  efficiency  of 
workers,  313. 

Irregularity,  165;  of  employment  and 
health,  330-342. 

Italians,  4,  5,  136,  277,  287,  289,  294, 
299,  300,  303;  northern,  7,  9,  10, 
38;  southern,  7,  9,  10,  38. 

Italy,  6. 

Jacksonville,  124. 

Jams,  286. 

Jewelry,  307. 

Johnstown,    Pa.,    289,    308,    339,    341, 

347.  371.  372. 
Joplin,  Mo.,  327. 

Kansas,  30,  33;  State  Report  on  week- 
ly earnings,  31. 

Kennedy,  John  C,  159,  266,  267,  372, 
375. 

Kentucky  Commission  to  investigate 
Condition  of  Working  Women,   147. 

Kindergartens,  228. 


Knopf's   statement    of   relationship    of 

poverty  to  tuberculosis,  350. 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  124. 

Labor,  273 ;  changes  in  demand  for, 
according  to  industry,  122;  accord- 
ing to  locality,  123;  condition  of, 
in  American  industry,  315;  due  to 
the  introduction  of  machinery  and 
new  processes,  126;  low  paid,  304; 
mobility  of,  296;  reserve  of,  163. 

Labor  and  scientific  management,  233 
(see  also  scientific  management, 
Taylor  system,  piece-rate  system). 

Labor  force,  1-28;  nativity,  1,  2,  3; 
Americans,  native,  white,  1 ;  black, 
2;  Austro-Hungarians,  3;  Balkans, 
5;  Bohemians,  3;  Croatians,  3,  5; 
English,  S;  French-Canadians  5; 
Germans,  3,  5;  Hebrews,  1,  3,  6; 
Irish,  5;  Italians,  4;  Lithuanians, 
40;  Magyars,  3;  Negroes,  2;  Poles, 
4;  Russians,  5;  Scotch,  5;  Servians, 
136;  Slovak,  3;  Swedes,  5;  Welsh, 
136. 

Labor  leader,  interest  in  health  of 
wage-earners,  313. 

Labor  legislation,  356. 

Labor  supply,  303 ;  changes  in  the 
quantity  and  character  of  the,   131. 

Lace  operatives,   13. 

Ladies'   garment  work,   15. 

Lamb,  286. 

Lane,  Dennis,  160. 

Lanza,  A.  J.,  327. 

Lard,  284,  286,  287. 

Laundries,  56. 

Laundry  work,  17. 

Lawrence,  Mass.,  33,  125,  304. 

Laziness,  165. 

Leather  manufacturing,  2,  6,  15,  19, 
36,  55,  307,  359. 

Leather  novelty  work,  IS. 

Leipzig  Local  Sick  Fund,  343. 

Letter  carriers,  16. 

Levasseur,  346. 

Life.  273. 

Life  Extension  Institute,  318,  320. 

Life  Insurance,  Metropolitan,  315, 
316,  343;   Prudential,   192,   196,  330. 

Light,  277,  280;  absence  of  sufficient, 
335. 

Lighting,  272-274. 

Liquors,  intoxicating,  273. 

Lithographers,   15. 

Lithographic  press  feeders,  15. 

Lithographic  workers,  15. 

Lithuanians,   7,   9,   10,   38,  40. 

Little  Italics,  306. 

Liverpool,  158. 


394 


INDEX 


Living,  minimum  or  comfortable,  357. 

Living  arrangements,  283,  292,  295- 
304;  cooperative,  297. 

Living  conditions,  269,  280,  282-312, 
314. 

Local  politicians,  in  league  with  em- 
ployer, 312. 

Locomotive  building,  8. 

Loco-motive  engineer,  14. 

Locomotive  fireman,  14. 

Lodgers,  266,  267,  268,  295-297,  299- 
301,  336,  360,  362,  367. 

Lodging,  296,  297;  groups  lodging, 
301. 

Lodging  houses,  301,  302. 

Long  hours,  325  (see  also  employ- 
ment). 

Longshoremen,  14. 

Loom  fixers,  13. 

Loss  in  working  time,  74-116. 

Lost  earnings,  161  (see  also  employ- 
ment, irregularity,  wages  and  earn- 
ings). 

Louisiana,  325. 

Louisiana,  sanitation  survey,  324. 

Low  paid  labor,  304. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  124,  307. 

Lumber  and  woodworking,   16,  19. 

Luxuries,  282,  283. 

Lynn,  Mass.,  307. 

Macaroni,  286. 

Macedonian,  7. 

Machine  printers,  15. 

Machine  textile  printers,   13. 

Machinery,  new  strain,  327-328. 

Machinists,  13,  331. 

McNevin  v.  Solvay  Process  Company, 
221. 

Magnusson,  Leifur,  xi. 

Magyar,  7,  9,  10,  136. 

Magyars,  3,  289,  294,  299.  300,  303. 

Maintenance  of  way  employees,   14. 

Male  garment  workers,  330,  332. 

Manchester,  307. 

Manufacturing  community,  294. 

Manufacturing  localities,  298. 

Marble  work,  12. 

Marine  engineers,  14. 

Marriage,  296. 

Married,  296;  male,  296,  300. 

Masons,  12,  331. 

Massachusetts,  30.  33,  46,  61,  325; 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  78; 
Commission  on  Minimum  Wage,  46, 
88,  364;  Industrial  Accident  Hoard, 
200;  State  Report  on  weekly  earn- 
ings, 31;  Workmen  Compensation 
Act,  200. 

Masters,  mates,  and  pilots,  14. 


Meal.  287. 

Meals,  away  from  home,  286. 

Meat,  275,  276,  289. 

Meat  cutters,  17. 

Meat-packing,  2;  workers,  279. 

Meats,  287,  290;  lean,  287. 

Mechanical  trackmen,  14. 

Mental  stress,  331. 

Mercantile  establishment,  56. 

Meriden,  Conn.,  307. 

Metal  explosions,  202. 

Metal,  machinery  and  ship-building, 
13.  19. 

Metal  polishers,  13. 

Metal  work.  Brotherhood,  13. 

Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany 315,  316,  343. 

Michigan,  308,  325;  State  Commission 
of  Inquiry,  46,  49,   50. 

Milk,  283,  285;  condensed,  286;  fresh, 
286;   inspection  of,  340. 

Miller.  Edith  M.  45. 

iMills.  movement  for  better  conditions 
in,  323. 

Milwaukee,  291,  294,  305;  home-own- 
ing in,  305. 

Mine  Workers,  LInited,  14. 

Miners,  Western  Federation,  14. 

Miners,  copper,  279;  coal,  279,  308; 
consumption,  or  silicosis,  214. 

Mining,  36;  copper,  2,  6,  35,  359;  coal, 
6,  308,  359;  iron  ore,  2,  307,  308; 
zinc,  327. 

Mining  and  quarrying,  14,  19. 

Mining  communities,  291,  294,  298, 
304. 

Minimum  wage,  law,  356;  Massachu- 
setts Commission,  46,  88,  364;  Min- 
nesota Commission,  46. 

Minneapolis,   Minn.,  291,  302. 

Minnesota,  46,  308,  325;  Minimum 
Wage  Commission,  46. 

Mississippi   River,  311. 

Mobile,  Ala.,  124. 

Molasses,  284,  286. 

Molders,   13. 

Money,  282;  sent  abroad,  300. 

Montclair,  N.  J.,  348,  372. 

Moravian,  6,  10. 

Morbidity  according  to  occupation, 
328-329. 

More,  Louise  B.,  372,  373. 

Morgantown,  308. 

Mortality,  apoplexy  cause  of,  diges- 
tive system,  nervous  system,  heart, 
kidney,  liver,  urinary  system,  320; 
according  to  occupation,  329-330 
(see  also  death). 

Mortgage,  273. 

Mothers,  268. 


INDEX 


395 


Municipalities,  reform  by,  309. 

Music,  18,  19. 

Musical  and  theatrical  union,  18. 

Musicians,  18. 

Mutton,  286. 

Native,  6,  10,  38,  276,  279,  287,  295, 
298;  white,  263,  268,  269,  277-279, 
285,  287,  288,  289,  294,  295,  298; 
negro,  6,  8,  10;  Indian,  10;  preju- 
dice toward  foreigners,  311. 

Nativity  groups,  263. 

Nature  of  injuries,  203-212  (see  also 
accidents,  injuries). 

Negro  wage-earners,  278. 

Netherlands,  6. 

Neurasthenia,  331. 

New  Bedford,  Mass.,  307. 

New  Britain,  307. 

New  Hampshire,  307. 

New  Jersey,  30,  33,  61,  325;  State  re- 
port on  weekly  earnings,  31. 

New  London,  124. 

New  strain,  327-328. 

New  York  Charity  Organization  So- 
ciety, 172. 

New  York  Dock  Works,  Commission 
on  Industrial  Relations  on,  145. 

New  York  City,  125,  265,  267,  291, 
294,  295,  302,  305,  324,  327,  330, 
332,  333,  335,  346,  374;  Bureau  of 
Standards,  372,  373. 

New  York  State,  307,  323;  Commis- 
sion on  Employer's  Liability  and 
Unemployment,  78,  94;  Conference 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  on, 
353,  374,  375;  Department  of  La- 
bor, 11,  12;  Court  of  Appeals,  221; 
Factory  Investigation  Commission, 
22,  33,  47,  324,  373. 

Newark.  125,  291,  307. 

Newspapers,  273, 

Non-family,  297,  298;  group,  296. 

Non-industrial  pursuits,  community 
environment,  308. 

Northern  Europe,  279. 

Norwegian,  7. 

Oatmeal,  286. 

Occupational    accident    hazards,     194 

(see  also  accidents,  industrial). 
Occupational     disease     hazards,     314, 

091     328 
O'Hern,  John  E.,  160. 
Ohio,  30,  42,  308,  324,  325;  Industrial 

Commission,    32;    State    Report    on 

weekly  earnings,  31,  32. 
Oil  refining,  2,  6,  307,  359. 
Old  age,  320. 
Oleomargarine,  286. 


Olive  oil,  286,  289. 

Oregon,     46,     364;      Social     Welfare 

Committee,  46. 
Organ  work,  16. 
Organizations,  273. 
Overcrowded  families,  371. 
Overcrowding,  to  reduce  rent,  335. 
Overdriving,  331;   speeding  up,  328. 
Overstrain      incident      to      piece-work 

system,  327. 
Ownership  of  homes,  302, 

Painters,   12,  331. 

Paper  and  wood  pulp  jnanufacturing, 

8,  10,  37,  56. 
Paper  makers,  15. 
Paper  manufacturing,  Holyoke,  Mass., 

307. 
Paper  mill  work,  15. 
Paper  printing  and  book  binding,  15, 

19. 
Paper  products,  8,  10. 
Parasitic  industries,  172. 
Parents,   269,   271;    foreign,   263;   na- 
tive, 263. 
Passaic,  N.  J.,  307. 
Paterson,  N.  J.,  125,  291,  304,  307. 
Pattern  makers,  13. 
Pavers,    14. 
Paving  cutters,  14. 
Peas,  283,  284;  dried,  286. 
Pellagra,  334. 
Pennsylvania,   61,   125,  289,  307,  308, 

325. 
Pensacola,  Fla.,  124. 
Permanency    of    residence,    296,    297, 

298,  303,  304. 
Philadelphia,   Pa.,  125,  291,  294,  302, 

305. 
Photo  engravers,  15. 
Physical   examination  and  supervision 

of  workers,  314. 
Physical  impairment  of  workers,  332, 
Physician's   interest  in   the   health   of 

wage-earners,  313. 
Piano  and  organ  work,  16. 
Pickles,  286. 
Piece-work,    325 ;    overstrain    incident 

to,  327;  piece-rate  system,  234,  236. 
Pin  money  theory,  263. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  124,  291,  308.  375. 
Plant,    single,   etc.    (see   Single   plant, 

etc.). 
Plasterers,  12. 
Playgrounds,  228. 
Power    machinery,    accidents    due    to, 

199. 
Plumbers,  12,  331, 
Pocket-knife  grinders,  13. 
Poles,  4,  5,  289. 


396 


INDEX 


Polish,  7,  9,  10,  38,  136,  294,  299,  300. 

Political  cause  of  the  segregation  of 
wage-earners,  310-312. 

Politician,  local,  in  league  with  em- 
ployer, 312. 

Potomac,  311. 

Poverty,  cause  of  disease,  314. 

Poverty,  tuberculosis  and,  351. 

Poverty  and  adequate  subsistence,  368. 

Poverty  and  disease,  344. 

Pork,  289;  fresh,  283,  286;  salt,  283, 
286. 

Porto  Rico.  176. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  124. 

Portuguese,  7.  303. 

Post  Office  Clerks'  Association,  Fed- 
eral, 16. 

Poster  artists,  15. 

Potatoes,  Irish,  284,  285,  286;  sweet, 
284,  286,  287. 

Potters,  16. 

Pottery,  37,  56. 

Poultry,  286. 

Powder  work,  16. 

Power  machinery,  199. 

Prevalence  of  sickness  among  wage- 
earners,  315;  greater,  of  disease 
among  industrial  workers,  317. 

Prices,  rise  in,  clothing,  food,  fuel, 
housing,  wages  of  building  labor, 
household  furnishing,  380. 

Print  cutters,  13. 

Printers,  331. 

Printing,   56. 

Printing  and  bookbinding,  37. 

Printing  pressmen,   15. 

Profit-sharing,  xi. 

Profit  sharing  and  bonus  plans,  220; 
benefits  accruing,  224;  employees 
have  no  legal  claim  upon  profits, 
221;  limited  plans,  223;  promoters' 
service,  226. 

Protein  foods,  283,  287. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  307. 

Prudential  Life  Insurance  Company, 
192.  196.  330. 

Public  administration,  class  distinction 
in,  310. 

Public  health,  not  for  the  working  men 
and  their  families,  but  to  protect  the 
better  classes  from  contagion,  310 
(see  also  health). 

Public  improvements,  lack  of,  306. 

Public  service,  16,  19. 

Pulp  and  paper  mill  work,  15. 

Quarry  work,  14. 
Quincy,  111.,  124. 

Race    distribution    of    employees    for 


whom  information  was  secured,  by 
industry,  6. 

Racial  composition  of  industrial  work- 
ers. 1. 

Racial  distinctions,  311. 

Racial  distribution  in  industries,  5. 

Racial  institutions,  311. 

Railway  carmen,  13. 

Railway  clerks,  14. 

Railway  conductors,  14. 

Railway  Mail  Association,  16. 

'Railway  postal  clerks,  16. 

Railroad  freight  handlers,  14. 

Railroad  signalmen,  14. 

Railroad  station  agents,  14. 

Railroad  station  employees,  14. 

Railroad  telegraphers,  14. 

Reform,  by  employers,  by  municipali- 
ties, 309. 

Religion,  273. 

Religious  distinctions,  311. 

Rent,  272,  273,  275,  276,  277,  278, 
279,  280,  281,  297,  302,  310,  380; 
overcrowding  to  reduce,  335. 

Reserve  of  labor,  163. 

Residential  neighborhoods,  310. 

"Restaurants  and  trade,   19. 

Retail  clerks,  17. 

Retail  prices  of  foods,  379,  380. 

Rhode  Island,  307. 

Rice.  286. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  125,  265,  307.  343. 

Rolls,   286.   290. 

Rope,  twine  and  hemp  manufacturing, 
8.  10. 

Rossford,  O.,  308. 

Roumanian,  7,  299,  300,  303. 

Rowntree,  B.  S.,  346. 

Royal  Statistical  Society,  London, 
343. 

Rubinow,  T.  M.,  379. 

Russia,  6,  8,  10. 

Russian,  5,  7,  10,  38,  277,  287,  294, 
299.  300.  303. 

Russian  Hebrew,  38. 

Ruthenian,  7,  303. 

Safeguards  in  factories  and  employer 
owned  dwellings,  314. 

Safety  first,  314. 

Sago,  286. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  125,  291,  302,  331. 

St.   Paul,  Minn.,  291,  302. 

.San  Francisco  Cooperative  Employ 
ment  Bureau,  171,  333. 

Sanitation,  a  mark  of  interest  in  the 
health  of  wage-earners,  313;  survey 
of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  324;  sani- 
tary conveniences  in  factories  and 
employer-owned  dwellings,  314. 


INDEX 


397 


Sargent,  Frank  B.,  117. 

Sausage,  286. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  124. 

Savings,  proportioned  to  size  of  fam- 
ily. 277. 

Sawsmiths,  13. 

Schereschewsky,  J.  W.,  330,  337. 

Schwab,  Sidney  L.,  331. 

Scientific  management,  xi,  234-243; 
practised  in  Watertown  Arsenal, 
240,  241;  furthers  the  modern  in- 
dustry toward  specialization,  242 
(see  also  Taylor  system,  piece-rate 
system). 

Scotch,  5,  7,  10,  38,  136,  277,  279,  287, 
294,  298. 

Scotland,  6,  8,  10,  269,  303. 

Seamen,  14. 

Segregation  (see  Wage-earners,  segre- 
gation of). 

Servants,  264. 

Servian,  7,  136,  294,  299,  300.  303. 

Sewage  facilities,  lack  of,  306. 

Sewing  machine  manufacturing,  8, 
10. 

Sex,  difference  in,  344. 

Shacks,  housing,  291. 

Shenangoes,  172.  333. 

Sheet  metal  work.  12. 

Shifting  population,  304. 

ijhiftlessness,   165. 

Shoe  work.  United,  15. 

Shoe  workers,  279. 

Shoes,  359. 

Sickness,  273;  bad  housing,  321;  cause 
of  decrease  in  efficiency,  320;  cause 
of  loss  of  time,  320;  cause  of  un- 
employment, 316,  317;  caused  by 
harmful  conditions  of  work,  322, 
323;  destroyed  efficiency,  cause  of, 
321;  cost  of  in  wages,  320;  cost  of 
in  medical  attention,  320;  discour- 
agement, 321 ;  employees  of  the  Fed- 
eral Governments  in  Washington, 
329;  insufficient  diet,  321;  mental 
depression,  cause  of,  321;  railroad 
employees  in  U.  S.,  329;  statistics, 
England,  320;  statistics,  Germany, 
320;  U.  S.  Steel  Company,  329; 
worry,  cause  of,  321 ;  survey  made 
by  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 
Company,  316-317. 

Silk,  37.  57, 

Silk  dyeing,  2,  6. 

Silk  goods,  6.  359. 

Silk  goods  manufacturing,  2. 

Silk  workers,  304. 

Single  plant,  affording  entire  demand 
for  labor,  304;  houses  owned  by  em- 
ployer of,  304. 


Skilled  workers,  269,  276,  303;  per- 
manency of  residence,  304. 

Slack  seasons.  331. 

Slate  and  tile  roofers,  12. 

Slate  work,  14. 

Slaughtering,  6,  37,  359. 

Slaughtering  and  meat-packing,  2; 
workers,  279. 

Slovak,  3,  S,  7,  9,  10,  38,  136,  289, 
294,  299,  300,  503. 

Slovenian.  7. 

Smelting  workers,  279. 

Social  insurance,  356. 

Social  Welfare  Committee,  Oregon, 
46. 

Social  worker,  interest  in  health  of 
wage-earner,  313. 

Solvay  Process  Company,  221. 

Sources  of  family  income,  253. 

Spanish,  7. 

Spaghetti,  286,  289. 

Speeding  up,  328;  overdriving,  331. 

Spinners,  13. 

Staff  report,  U.  S.  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations,  362. 

Stage,  theatrical,  employees,  18. 

Standard  of  living,  268,  269,  276,  277. 
278,  279,  282,  283,  288,  289,  297, 
300.  309.  332. 

Standard  of  living,  1913,  382. 

Starchy  foods,  284,  287. 

State,  welfare  of,  362. 

State  employees,   16. 

Stationary  firemen,  17. 

Statistical  speculation  as  to  conclu- 
sions shunned,  x. 

Steam  engineers,  17. 

Steam  railway  transportation,  8. 

Steam  shovelmen,  14. 

Steel,  307,  308. 

Steel  plate  printers,  15. 

Steel  plate  transferrers,  15. 

Steel  workers.  289.  304. 

Steelton.  308. 

Stella,  Antonio.  338. 

Stereotypers  and  electrotypers,  15. 

Steubenville,  O..  308. 

Stogie  workers.  17. 

Stone,  N.  T.,  90. 

Stone  cutters,  16. 

Stone  workers,  331. 

Stores,  movement  for  better  condi- 
tions in.  323. 

Stove  mounters,   13. 

Straw  hatters,  ladies',  15. 

Street  and  electric  railway  companies, 
14. 

Structure  and  methods,  industrial, 
changes  in.  120. 

Stupidity,  165. 


398 


INDEX 


Subsistence,   272,   280,   297;   adequate, 

369;  inadequate,  371. 
Suet.  286. 

Sugar,  284,  286;  refining,  2,  6. 
Summary  presented  in  this  volume  is 

a    summary    of    conditions    as    they 

have  been  found  to  exist  from  1900- 

1914.   15.  xi. 
Sweating.   170.  265. 
Sweden.  6. 
Swedes,  5. 

Swedish.  7.  9.  10,  279. 
Switchmen,  14. 
Switzerland,  6. 

Sydenstricker,  Edgar,  315,  316. 
Syrian,  7,  303. 
Syrup,  284,  286. 

Tailors.  IS.  331. 

Tarentum,  Pa.,  307. 

Taxes,  273,  310. 

Taylor,  Frederick  W.,  233,  235. 

Tea,  286. 

Teamsters,  14. 

Telegraphers,  commercial,  railroad,  14. 

Tenements,  304.  305. 

Textile,  machine  textile  printers,  13. 

Textile  manufacturing  centers,  307. 

Textile  work,  13. 

Textile  workers.  331. 

Theaters  and  music,  18,  19. 

Theatrical  stage  employees,  18. 

Tile  work.  16. 

Timber  work,  16. 

Times  Annalist,  N.  Y.,  380. 

Tobacco,   17.  273. 

Toilets,  insanitary,  335. 

Toledo.  O.,  104. 

Tool  manufacturing,  8. 

Towne.  Henry  R..  234. 

Trade  and  Fed.  Unions  (A.  F.  L.).  17. 

Trade  Union,  extent  of  membership, 
11;  growth  in  union  membership, 
18;  proportion  of  workers  organized, 
19;  unemployment  reports,  316. 

Trade-Union  membership,  11;  table  of 
trades,  12-18;  growth,  18;  per  cent, 
of  total  membership,  19. 

Trade-Union  organization,  11;  propor- 
tion of  workers.  19.  20. 

Transportation,  14,  19;  electric  rail- 
way, 8;  steam  railway,  8. 

Traveling  goods  and  leather  novelty 
work,  15. 

Trend  toward  a  shorter  working  day, 
176. 

Troy,  N.  Y..  124,  307. 

Tuberculosis,  327,  330,  331,  334;  and 
poverty,  351;  European  statistics  on, 
336;  mortality  statistics,  331. 


Tuberculosis  environment,  349. 
Tuberculosis  workers,  332. 
Tunnel  constructors,  14. 
Typewriter  manufacturing,  8,  10. 

Underclothed  families,  371. 

Underfed  families,  370,  371. 

Underbill,  F.  R.,  370. 

Unemployment,  100-111,  296;  accident 
disability,  cause  of,  316,  317;  analy- 
sis of  causes,  117;  by  cities,  104, 
105;  by  unions,  Mass.,  116;  due  to 
changes  in  organization.  130;  due 
to  changes  in  quantity  and  character 
of  labor  supply,  131-137;  due  to  dull 
seasons,  150;  in  Calif.,  151;  due  to 
introduction  of  machinery,  126-128; 
due  to  fluctuations  in  industry,  137, 
138,  139-152;  due  to  irregularities  in 
industries,  152,  153;  due  to  prevail- 
ing practises  in  shop  management, 
160;  due  to  sickness,  165;  old  age, 
167;  effects  of,  169-175;  in  garment 
trade,  Indiana,  148;  in  Labor 
Unions,  New  York,  141;  in  principal 
industries,  143;  investigated  by 
trade  unions,  316;  sickness,  cause 
of,  316,  317;  survey  of,  Metropoli- 
tan Life  Insurance  Co.,  315. 

Unhealthful  living  conditions,  334. 

United  mine  workers,   14. 

United  shoe  work,   15. 

United  States,  268,  270,  272,  277,  279, 
283,  285,  288,  303,  318;  Central 
States,  278,  287;  Elastern  States, 
291,  307;  Middle  West,  278,  291, 
303,  307;  New  England  States,  278, 
291,  307;  North  Atlantic  States, 
285,  287;  Northern  States,  287; 
Southern  States,  278,  287,  291; 
Western   States,  285,  287. 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry, 
340. 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor,  48,  247,  250, 
252,  264,  272-274,  304,  359.  380. 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  102, 
148,  149,   180,  315,  380. 

U.  S.  Children's  Bureau,  347,  371,  372. 

U.  S.  Immigration  Commission,  1,  4, 
5,  30,  31,  63,  133,  266,  278.  279, 
292-294,  298.  305,  311,  358,  361. 

U.  S.  Public  Health  Service,  315,  325, 
327.  334.  382. 

United  States  Steel  Corporation,  70. 

Unmarried,  male,  female.  296. 

Unskilled  labor,  266.  276,  304. 

Unskilled  occupations,  newer  immigra- 
tion. 306. 

Unskilled  worker,  incapable  of  initia- 
tive, 312. 


INDEX 


399 


Unskilled  worker,  foreign,  at  tnercy 
of  local  politician,  312;  at  mercy  of 
employer,  311,  312;  segregation  of, 
311;  streets  on  which  he  lives,  306; 
ward  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lives.  312. 

Upholsterers,  16, 

Utah.  364. 

Utensils,  273. 

Utica,  307. 

Vacations,  273. 

Valentine,  243. 

Valiant,  Frances,  Miss,  xi. 

Van  Kleek,  Miss,  91. 

Vapors,  323. 

Veal.  286. 

Vegetables,    289;    canned,    284,    286; 

green,  284,  286. 
Ventilation,  lack  of,  335. 
Vinegar,  286. 
Virginia,  308. 
Visiting  nurse  service,  228. 

Wage-earners,  272,  274,  277,  280,  283, 
287;  American-born,  288,  302;  child, 
301;  community  benefits  of,  306; 
difference  of  economic  status  of, 
309;  environment  of,  306;  English- 
born,  303;  family,  246-282,  309; 
foreign-born,  2;  in  industries,  2;  in 
16  minor  industries,  8,  9,  10;  in  21 
basic  industries,  6,  7;  governmental 
health  insurance,  314;  health,  313- 
356;  loss  in  working  time,  74;  prev- 
alence of  sickness  among,  315-321; 
segregation  of,  306,  310-312;  women, 
301-303;  in  boarding  and  lodging 
houses,  302;  adrift,  301,  302;  in 
private  families,  302;  keeping  house, 
302;  segregation,  political  cause  of, 
310-312. 

Wage-earning  family,  244,  246-282, 
309;  annual  income,  246;  budget, 
244;  distribution  according  to  in- 
come, 249;  community  environment, 
305;  contribution  by  women  work- 
ers in  factories,  mills,  etc.,  in  seven 
cities,  living  at  home,  262;  diet  of, 
283;  distribution  of  different  races 
according  to  income,  249,  250; 
higher  cost  of  living,  377;  housing 
conditions,  291;  income  according 
to  geographical  divisions,  250,  251; 
income  according  to  industry,  251, 
252;  living  arrangements,  295; 
ownership  of  homes,  302;  sickness 
in,  315;  sources  of  income,  25,  253, 
440;  in  principal  industries,  254; 
sources    of    income,    by    race,    255; 


from  husband,  wife,  children,  board- 
ers or  lodgers,  256;  from  specified 
sources  in  2,421  families  of  textile 
workers,  260;  in  specific  industries, 
by  general  nativity  groups,  258;  in 
1,909  families  of  silk  mill  workers, 
259;  standard  of  living  of,  367. 

Wages,  29-69,  280,  282,  297. 

Wages  and  earnings,  adequacy  of, 
357-383;  family  income,  366;  inade- 
quacy of,  362;  increases,  recent,  69- 
71;  loss  of,  from  sickness,  317;  of 
male  workers  to  support  families, 
357;  weekly,  male  workers,  29,  30, 
34-37;  women's  wages,  363. 

Wages,  weekly,  male  workers,  29;  fe- 
male workers,  43;  in  various  indus- 
tries, 40;  differences  in  women's 
wages  according  to  industry,  47;  dif- 
ference in  wages  of  men  and  women 
workers,  57;  recent  increases  in 
wage  rates,  69-71. 

Wages  in  various  industries,  40-42, 
53-57;  annual  earnings,  male,  64- 
67;  female,  67-69;  difference  be- 
tween men  and  women,  57;  rate  of, 
male,  43,  44,  51;  female.  45. 

Wages  of  building  labor,  rise  of,  380. 

Waitresses,  264. 

Wales,  6,  8,  10. 

Wants,  physical,  290. 

War  Order  Industries,  4. 

Warren,  B.  S.,  315,  316. 

Washington,  D.  C,  374. 

Washington  Street  District,  336. 

Waste.  290. 

Water,  lack  of,  306. 

Watertown,  Arsenal.  240. 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice,  321,  352. 

Wealthy  citizen,  taxes,  310. 

Weekly  earnings  (see  earnings, 
weekly). 

Welfare,  social,  Oregon  Committee, 
46. 

Welfare  work,  xi,  227;  multiplicity  of 
forms.  228,  299;  U.  S.  Steel  Cor- 
poration, 230;  visiting  nurse  service, 
232. 

Welsh,  7,  38,  136.  287,  298. 

West  Virginia,  308. 

Western  Europe,  279,  287. 

Wheat,  284. 

White  Rats  Actors'  Union,  18. 

Wife,  265.  266,  270,  273,  292,  301,  333. 

Wilbur  318. 

Wilmington,  307. 

Window  glass  snapper,  16. 

Window  glass  work,  16. 

Wire  weavers,  13. 


400 


INDEX 


Wisconsin,  63,  265;  Industrial  Com- 
mission, 201,  261,  263-265,  363. 

Wolman,  Leo,  11, 

Women,  301,  321,  325;  and  child  wage- 
earners,  304;  employment  in  factor- 
ies prejudicial  to  health,  314;  in 
industries,  20-24;  age  groups,  22-24; 
wages,  by  industries,  47-51  (see  also 
working  day  for  women). 

Women  wage-earners,  263,  301,  363; 
age  of,  264;  girls,  264;  married,  263; 
three  classes  of,  365;  unmarried, 
263;  widows,  263. 

Wood  and  metal  lathers,  12. 

Wood  carvers,  16. 

Wool  sorters  and  graders,  13. 

Woolens  and  worsteds,  2,  6,  37,  57. 

Woolston,  H.  B.,      >,  115,  148. 

Workers  industrial,  racial  composition 
of  1 ;  physical  examination  and  su- 
pervision of,  314;  physical  impair- 
ment of,  332. 

Workers,  low  paid,  housing  conditions, 
306;  male,  annual  earnings,  358. 

Workers,  skilled  (see  skilled  workers). 

Working-class  neighborhoods,  310; 
sections,  309;  town,  310. 

Working  conditions,  176-245;  causing 


thereby  excessive   fatigue,   325-328. 

Working  day,  for  men,  in  heavy  in- 
dustries, 186;  in  mines  and  quarries, 
186;  in  pulp  and  paper  mills,  186; 
in  telephone  and  telegraph  work, 
187;  in  principal  industries,  183. 

Working  day,  for  women  in  men's 
ready-made  clothing  industry,  190, 
191;  in  metal  trades,  191. 

Workingmen,  269,  2T2;  families,  of, 
310. 

Working  time,  74-100,  280;  loss  in, 
72-75,  90;  wage-earners'  loss,  74- 
80;  general  statistics  and  statements, 
76;  statistics  for  specific  industries, 
81;  statistics  for  specific  trades  and 
occupations,  93  (see  also  unemploy- 
ment, extent  of). 

Workmen  compensation,  Massachu- 
setts, 200. 

Worry,  cause  of  sickness,  321. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  229. 

Young    Men's    Christian    Association, 

229. 
Youngstown,  O.,  308,  337. 

Zinc  mines,  327, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


40  r 


A  List  of  the  More  Important  Works  Cited 
IN  This  Book 


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